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TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 



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CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 




Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 


PAGE 


A Sketch of Longfellow 


. . . ix 


Appreciations .... 


. xviii 


Chronological List of Works 


. xxiii 


Contemporary Authors 


. xxiv 


Biography and Criticism 


. XXV 


Tales of a Wayside Inn 


. xxvi 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Prelude 

The Wayside Inn . 

The Landlord's Tale 
Paul Revere's Ride 

Interlude ..... 

The Student's Tale 

The Falcon of Ser Federigo . 

Interlude ..... 

The Spanish Jew's Tale 

The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi 

Interlude 



1 
1 

14 
14 

20 

23 
23 

36 

38 
38 

41 



VI 



CONTENTS 



The Sicilian's Tale . , 

King Robert of Sicily . 

Interlude ..... 

The Musician's Tale 

The Saga of King Olaf . 

I. The Challenge of Thor 
II. King Olaf's Return 

III. Thora of Rimol 

IV. Queen Sigrid the Haughty 
V. The Skerry of Shrieks 

VI. The Wraith of Odin . 

VII. Iron-Beard 

VIII. Gudrun 

IX. Thangbrand the Priest 

X. Raud the Strong 

XI. Bishop Sigurd at Salten Fiord 

XII. King Olaf's Christmas 

XIII. The Building of the Long Serpent 

XIV. The Crew of the Long Serpent 
XV. A Little Bird in the Air . 

XVI. Queen Thyri and the Angelica Stalks 

XVII. King Svend of the Forked Beard 

XVIII. King Olaf and Earl Sigvald 

XIX. King Olaf's War-horns 

XX. Einar Tamberskelver 

XXL King Olaf's Death-drink . 

XXII. The Nun of Nidaros . 



CONTENTS Vll 

PAGE 

Interlude 125 

The Theologian's Tale 129 

Torquemada 129 

Interlude • . . 139 

The Poet's Tale 141 

The Birds of Killingworth . . . , .141 

Finale 152 

NOTES 153 

INDEX TO NOTES 219 



INTRODUCTION 

A SKETCH OF LONGFELLOW 

Birth and Ancestry. — Henry Wadsworth Long- 
fellow, America's most popular poet, was born at 
Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807. He was the 
second son of Stephen Longfellow, a prominent 
lawyer of Portland, and his wife, Zilpah Wadsworth, 
a woman of strong sensibilities and a great lover of 
music and poetry. 

His ancestors were of stanch Puritan stock. On his 
father's side he was a descendant of William Long- 
fellow, who came to America from Yorkshire, England, 
in 1651; and on his mother's side of John and Pris- 
cilla Alden, who were among the Mayflower passen- 
gers, and whose names he afterward made famous 
in The Courtship of Miles Standish. 

School Days. — Longfellow's youth, Hke that of 
most American boys, was spent in study and play. 

ix 



X INTRODUCTION 

He attended the Portland city schools for a number of 
years, after which he entered the Portland Academy to 
prepare himself for college. In 1821, in company 
with his elder brother, Stephen, he matriculated at 
Bowdoin, the youngest member of his class. 

His career at Bowdoin was a notable one. While 
there he was associated with such young men as Na- 
thaniel Hawthorne, Franklin Pierce, John S. C. 
Abbott, and George B. Cheever, among w^hom he 
took high rank in scholarship and popularity. He is 
described by one of his classmates as having at that 
time a slight, erect figure and an intelligent expression 
of countenance, and by one of his instructors as an 
attractive youth, with auburn locks, clear, fresh, 
blooming complexion, and, as might be expected, of 
well-bred manners and bearing. 

Early Verse. — While in college Longfellow experi- 
mented much with poetry, and from time to time 
published poems in the United States Literary Gazette 
which were widely copied. These productions, 
although possessing no considerable merit in them- 
selves, showed glimpses of poetic excellence which 
marked him as a promising writer. There was in 
them much of that simplicity of expression and 
sweetness of language and imagery which in later 



INTRODUCTION xi 

years were to be leading characteristics of his verse. 
In the autumn of 1824 he was called upon to read a 
poem before the Peucinian Literary Society of the 
college, and the next summer was graduated with 
honors, standing second in a class of thirty-seven. 

Professor at Bowdoin. Outre Mer. — After taking 
his degree Longfellow began the study of law in his 
father's office; but in 1826 was elected to the Pro- 
fessorship of Modern Languages at Bowdoin, — a 
position which he gladly accepted. In order to fit 
himself for the place he sailed for Europe, where he 
remained for three years, visiting France, Italy, 
Germany, and Spain, and studying their languages 
and literatures. He returned in 1829 and entered at 
once upon his duties. 

His years at Bowdoin were busy ones. Besides 
acting as an instructor, he prepared elementary text- 
books for his classes in French and Spanish, translated 
many sonnets and other short poems from various 
European languages, and wrote for the North Ameri- 
can Review and the New England Magazine. In 
1835 he published his first important work, Outre Mer. 
It is in prose and not unlike Irving's Sketch-Book in 
form, being a series of tales that have to do with the 
life and legends of the Continent. George William 



Xll INTRODUCTION 

Curtis, in commenting on it, says, " In this earliest 
book of Longfellow's the notable points are not power 
of invention, or vigorous creation, or profound thought, 
but a mellowness of observation, instinctively selecting 
the picturesque and characteristic details, a copious 
and rich scholarship, and the indefinable grace of the 
imagination which announces genius." 

Professor at Harvard. Literary Works, 1839- 1842. 
— The publication of Outre Mer brought Longfellow 
before the world as a recognized writer. This, added 
to his rising fame as a translator, led to his appoint- 
ment as Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard 
to succeed Professor George Ticknor, who had re- 
signed. Before taking up his new duties he again 
went to Europe, this time to study the Scandinavian 
languages. After an absence of two years, he returned 
in November, 1836, and began his work at Cambridge 
the following month. He at once became a favorite 
with the students, who respected him for his deep 
learning and courteous manners. As an instructor he 
was clear, patient, and encouraging, as well as scru- 
pulously faithful to the tasks that fell to him. 

But his professional duties did not turn him aside 
from his pursuit of literature. In 1839 he published a 
romance entitled Hyperion and his first volume of 



INTRODUCTION xiil 

poems, Voices of the Night; and two years later added 
another book of verse, Ballads and Other Poems. 
These productions were welcomed with great enthusi- 
asm, critics and public alike pronouncing them of 
the highest merit. The volumes of verse, including 
such favorite selections as Excelsior, A Psalm of Life, 
The Village Blacksmith, The Rainy Day, Maidenhood, 
and The Wreck of the Hesperus, were especially well 
received, being read with delight by thousands of 
people on both sides of the Atlantic. Translations 
were made of them into many languages, and the poet 
was honored far and near. 

In 1842 he asked for leave of absence, owing to ill 
health, and again visited Europe, spending several 
months in Germany, and returning late in the year. 
On his way home he composed his Poems on Slavery, 
which appeared at once, but which did little to increase 
his fame. 

Literary Works, 1843-1854. — Longfellow next 
turned his attention to drama, and in 1843 brought out 
The Spanish Student, a three-act comedy. The work 
was eagerly read, thousands of copies of it being sold 
within a few weeks after its publication. But while 
it possessed much merit, it was recognized as having 
one vital weakness, — a lack of skill in character 



xiv INTRODUCTtON 

portrayal. Edwin P. Whipple, in a criticism upon it, 
said: '^ In it the affluence of Longfellow's imagina- 
tion in images of grace, grandeur, and beauty is most 
strikingly manifested. The objection to it as a play 
is a lack of power in the dramatic exhibition of char- 
acter ; but read merely as a poem cast in the form of 
dialogue it is one of the most beautiful in American 
literature. None of his other pieces so well illustrates 
all his poetical qualities, — his imagination, his 
fancy, his sentiment, and his manner. It seems to 
comprehend the whole extent of his genius." 

Other works followed in rapid succession. The Bel- 
fry of Bruges and Other Poems, containing such pieces 
as The Bridge, The Day is Done, The Old Clock on the 
Stairs, The Arsenal at Springfield, and the Arrow and 
the Song, appeared in 1846; Evangeline, a story 
based on the expulsion of the Acadians by the English, 
in 1847; Kavanagh, a prose tale of New England life 
and manners, in 1849; The Seaside and Fireside, a 
collection of poems including The Building of the Ship, 
Resignation, The Builders, and other favorites in 
1850; and The Golden Legend, a song of mediaeval 
life in its aspects of religion and monasticism, in 1851. 
Everywhere they were greeted with delight. Evan- 
geline, especially, appealed to the feelings of the civi- 



INTRODUCTION XV 

lized world. A British critic, speaking of it, said: 
'' It is one of the most pathetic and beautiful poetical 
narrations which has ever enriched our language. 
The pastoral scenes are lifelike daguerreotypes; 
there is an originality about the story of the lovers, 
and an appropriate solemnity of language throughout 
the whole piece, which, added to the beautiful descrip- 
tions which lie scattered among its pages, render it a 
truly fascinating if not enchanting poem." 

Resignation of Professorship. Literary Works, 1855- 
1868. — In 1854 Longfellow resigned his professor- 
ship at Harvard to devote his whole time to literature, 
and the following year published The Song of Hia- 
watha, a poem dealing with the legends of the Ojibway 
Indians. Its theme had long been a popular one, but 
never before had it been handled with such charm 
and adroitness as now. Many critics pronounced 
it his greatest work, and innumerable reviews were 
written in praise of it. " Longfellow is the most 
accomplished poet of the day," said the London 
Illustrated Times, " and Hiawatha is unquestionably 
his ablest work. Every scene the Indian hero trav- 
erses is a breathing landscape, every adventure he 
meets with is a capital story." The London Athe- 
nceum said of it: " The tale itself is beautiful, fanciful 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

and new. . . . Longfellow has produced in an 
imaginary memoir of the hero, Hiawatha, a picture of 
Indian life as it exists in the forest and by the river, 
full of light and color, repose and action. In a word, 
the story of Hiawatha is the poet's most original pro- 
duction." 

The Courtship of Miles Standish, a story of Puritan 
life and love, appeared next, in 1858; followed by the 
Tales of a Wayside Inn, contained in this text, in 1863 
Flower-de-Luce, a collection of short poems, in 1866 
and The New England Tragedies, treating of scene? 
in early colonial times, in 1868. Of these four work& 
the first two were at once placed among the classics of 
America, while the last two were put aside as com- 
parative failures. Both The Courtship of Miles 
Standish and the Tales of a Wayside Inn were made 
the subject of many criticisms. As George William 
Curtis finished reading the latter, he wrote, " So ends 
this ripe and mellow work, leaving the reader like one 
who listens still for pleasant music i' the air which 
sounds no more. Those who will may compare it 
with the rippling strangeness of Hiawatha, the mourn- 
fully rolhng cadence of Evangeline, the mediaeval 
romance of The Golden Legend. For ourselves its 
beauty does not clash with theirs. The simple old 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

form of the group of guests telling stories, the thread 
of so many precious rosaries, has a new charm from 
this poem." 

Honors in Europe. Later Literary Works. — In 
1868-1869 Longfellow revisited Europe, where he was 
received with marked distinction. In England, espe- 
cially, he was greeted as America's greatest literary 
representative, and was honored with the degrees of 
L.L.D. from Cambridge, and D.C.L. from Oxford. 
. He travelled upon the Continent after leaving England, 
J and returned to the United States by the way of Scot- 
. land after an absence of a year and a half. 

Upon his return he set to work with renewed vigor. 
In 1870 he published a translation of Dante's Divine 
Comedy, followed in 1871 by The Divine Tragedy, 
a poem on the life and suffering of the Christ; in 1872 
by Three Books of Song; in 1874 by Aftermath, and 
in 1875 by The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems, 
containing the beautiful selections. The Hanging of 
the Crane and Morituri Salutamus. 

Last Literary Works. Death. — But the poet's 
long career was drawing to a close. In 1878 he pub- 
lished Keramos and Other Poems, and two years later 
his last work. Ultima Thule. In October, 1881, he 
fell a victim to nervous prostration, which stopped all 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

further literary efforts, and in the spring of the next 
year succumbed to an attack of peritonitis after a brief 
illness. He died on March 24 and was buried at 
Cambridge. Shortly after his death a small volume 
of his verse was collected and published under the 
title of In the Harbor. 

APPRECIATIONS 

" Of all our poets, Longfellow best deserves the title 
of artist. He has studied the principles of verbal 
melody, and rendered himself master of the mysterious 
affinities which exist between sound and sense, word and 
thought, feeling and expression. This tact in the use 
of language is probably the chief cause of his success. 
There is an aptitude, a gracefulness, and vivid beauty, 
in many of his stanzas, which at once impress the 
memory and win the ear and heart." — R. W. Gris- 
WOLD, Poets and Poetry of America. 

" We shall only say that Longfellow is the most 
popular of American poets, and that this popularity 
may safely be assumed to contain in itself the elements 
of permanence, since it has been fairly earned without 
any of that subservience to the baser tastes of the 
public which characterizes the quack of letters. His 



INTRODUCTION xix 

are laurels honorably gained and gently worn. With- 
out comparing him with others, it is enough if we 
declare our conviction that he has composed poems 
which will live as long as the language in which 
they are written." — James Russell Lowell, North 
American Review for July, 1849. 

'' We are thankful that the present age is graced by 
such a poet as Mr. Longfellow, whose extraordinary 
accomplishment and research, and devotion to his 
high calling, can hardly be overrated. His produc- 
tions must always command our deep attention, for 
in them we are certain to meet with great beauty of 
thought and very elegant diction." — Blackwood's 
Magazine for February, 1852. 

" Nothing can exceed the exquisite beauty of some 
of his smaller pieces, while they also abound in that 
richness of expression and imagery which the Romantic 
muse is supposed to claim as her more especial attri- 
bute. The melody of his versification is very remark- 
able; some of his stanzas sound with the richest and 
sweetest music of which language is capable. It is 
unnecessary to illustrate this remark by quotations: 
the memories of all readers of poetry involuntarily 
retain them. In the range of American poetry, it 
would not be easy to find any that is so readily re- 



XX INTRODUCTION 

membered, that has sunk so deeply into the hearts 
of the people, and that so spontaneously rises to the 
speaker's tongue in the pulpit and the lecture-room." 
— Professor C. C. Felton, North American Review 
for July, 1842. 

'' In the point of refined tenderness and pathos 
Longfellow stands preeminent; few poets have 
equalled him in this department of the divine art. 
His sympathies are deep and unbounded. In this 
respect he is the poet of the people. If he builds 
gothic temples for others to inhabit, the warmer im- 
pulses of his heart lead him to choose a place by the 
' Fireside ' of the humble cottage, or the bed of the 
afflicted, where he delights to tarry, and read a moral 
to the rustic dwellers, from the ' forever, never ' 
of the ' Old Clock on the Stairs '; sing a ' Psalm of 
Life '; point to the ' Footsteps of Angels '; and talk 
of ' Resignation ' until the eyes of faith can catch a 
glimpse of the distant ' Sunrise on the Hills ' of a 
brighter and better world. His tenderness is not the 
result of mere external sympathy. He looks at the 
springs of action, and fathoms the deep fountains of 
feeling; and with a refinement removed from vulgar 
impulse, claims a share in all the suffering endured by 
true worth in neglect, or crushed under accumulated 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

burdens. With such he weeps in hearty sympathy, 
and at the same time cheers with words of affectionate 
regard, which bring back energy and hope; or if the 
hour of expectation is past, he nerves the sufferer to 
' endure what time cannot abate.' '' — Rev. Sidney 
Dyer, Christian Review for January, 1859. 

" Longfellow's verse occupies a position halfway 
between the poetry of actual life and the poetry of 
transcendentalism. He idealizes real Ufe; he elicits 
new meaning from any of its rough shows; he clothes 
subtle and delicate thoughts in familiar imagery; 
he embodies high moral sentiment in beautiful and 
ennobling forms; he inweaves the golden threads of 
spiritual being into the texture of common existence; 
he discerns and addresses some of the finest sympathies 
of the heart; but he rarely soars into those regions of 
abstract imagination, where the bodily eye cannot 
follow, but where that of the seer is gifted with a 
' pervading vision.' Though he fixes a keen glance 
on those filmy and fleeting shades of thought and 
feeling which common minds overlook, or are incom- 
petent to grasp, he has his eye open a little wider, 
perhaps, when its gaze is directed to the outward 
world, than when it is turned within. His imagina- 
tion, in the sphere of its activity, is almost perfect 



xxil INTRODUCTION 

in its power to shape in visible forms, or to suggest, 
by cunning verbal combinations, the feeling or thought 
he desires to express; but it lacks the strength and 
daring, the wide, magnificent sweep, which charac- 
terize the imagination of such poets as Shelley. He 
had little of the unrest and frenzy of the bard. We 
know, in reading him, that he will never miss his mark; 
that he will risk nothing; that he will aim to do only 
what he feels he can do well. An air of repose, of 
quiet power, is around his compositions. He rarely 
loses sight of common interests and sympathies. He 
displays none of the stinging earnestness, the vehement 
sensibility, the gusts of passion, which distinguish poets 
of the impulsive class. His spiritualism is not seen in 
wild struggles after an ineffable Something, for which 
earth can afford but imperfect symbols, and of which 
even abstract words can suggest little knowledge. He 
appears perfectly satisfied with his work. Like his 
own ' Village Blacksmith,' he retires every night 
with the feeling that something has been attempted 
and something done." — Edwin P. Whipple, Essays 
and Reviews. 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 



CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS 

VERSE 

Voices of the Night, 1839. 

Ballads and Other Poems, 184L 

Poems on Slavery, 1842. 

The Spanish Student,- 1843. 

The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, 1846. 

Evangeline, 1847. 

The Seaside and Fireside, 1850. 

The Golden Legend, 1851. 

The Song of Hiawatha, 1855. 

The Courtship of Miles Standish, 1858. 

Tales of a Wayside Inn, 1863. 

Flower-de-Luce, 1867. 

The New England Tragedies, 1868. 

Dante's Divine Comedy (a translation), 1867-1870. 

The Divine Tragedy, 1873. 

Christus: a Mystery, 1872. 

Three Books of Song, 1872. 

Aftermath, 1874. 



XXIV INTRODUCTION 

The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems, 1875. 
Keramos and Other Poems, 1878. 
Ultima Thule, 1880. 
In the Harbor, 1882. 

PROSE 

Outre Mer, a Pilgrimage beyond the Sea, 1835. 
Hyperion, a Romance, 1839. 
Kavanagh, a Tale, 1849. 

CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS 

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). 
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). 
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864). 
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). 
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894). 
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891). 
Walt Whitman (1819-1892). 

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). 

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859). 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). 

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892). 

WilHam Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863). 

Robert Browning (1812-1889). 



INTRODUCTION XXV 

Charles Dickens (1812-1870). 
George Eliot (1819-1880). 
John Ruskin (1819-1900). 
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888). 

BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM 

The following lists of biography and criticism are 
by no means exhaustive. Hundreds of articles on 
Longfellow have been published, many of them of 
merit. It is the object here to suggest a few of the 
best. 

Biography. — Life and Memoirs (3 vols.), by Samuel 
Longfellow; Life, by T. W. Higginson in American 
Men of Letters Series; Life, by E. S. Robertson, in 
Great Writers Series; Life, by G. R. Carpenter; Life, 
by George L. Austin; Life, by W. S. Kennedy. 

Criticism. — Barrett Wendell, Literary History of 
America; R. H. Stoddard, Homes and Haunts of our 
Elder Poets; H. E. Scudder, Men and Letters; E. C. 
Stedman, Poets of America; W. E. Henley, Views 
and Reviews; C. F. Richardson, American Literature; 
E. P. Whipple, Essays and Reviews; H. T. Griswold, 
Home Life of Great Authors; G. W. Curtis, Homes 
of American Authors. 



XXvi INTRODUCTION 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Plan. — The plan of the Tales of a Wayside Inn — 
that of bringing together a number of persons who while 
away their idle hours in story-telling — is an expedi- 
ent frequently employed in literature. As long ago 
as the fourteenth century Boccaccio used it in his 
Decameron^ and since then many prominent authors 
have copied after him. Chaucer, in his Canterbury 
Tales; Tennyson, in his Princess; and Irving, in his 
Tales of a Traveller, are familiar examples. 

That the expedient is a natural and convenient one 
goes without comment, and Longfellow's choice of 
it was a happy one. Not only did it give him an op- 
portunity to display his great power of narrative, but 
it offered him a chance to show his exceptional skill 
in the handling of metres as well. From the simple, 
swift-moving ballad form of Paul Revere's Ride, 
through the great variety of measures — heroic, 
elegiac, lyrical — ^ of the Saga of King Olaf, to the 
stately rhythm of King Robert of Sicily, he ran through 
almost the whole gamut known to English literature. 
'' In short," as one critic aptly remarks, '' in these tales 
the poet felt himself in his element : the music rolls 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

true and perfect, and with the power of all the pedals 
and stops at the musician's command." 

Sources. — Longfellow went to many sources for the 
plots of his stories. Paul Revere's Ride is based on an 
incident which occurred at the beginning of the Ameri- 
can Revolution; The Falcon of Ser Federigo is a para- 
phrase of Boccaccio's Ser Federigo and his Falcon, found 
in the Decameron ; The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi is 
adapted from the Talmud; King Robert of Sicily is 
founded on an Italian legend of the mediaeval church; 
The Saga of King Olaf is drawn from the old Scandina- 
vian Eddas; and Torque mad a is a poetical version of 
a Spanish tragedy of the days of the Inquisition. The 
Birds of Killingworth alone is a creation of the poet. 

Scene. — The place where these stories are reputed 
to have been told was at the old Red Horse Inn, located 
in the village of Sudbury, twenty miles west of Boston. 
The building had been erected for a country residence 
about two hundred years before, by an Englishman 
named Howe, and had always remained in his family. 
His descendants, however, having lost their fortune, 
converted it into a tavern which soon became a popular 
resort. \ It is described as a large, irregular building 
with hipped roof and tall chimneys, surrounded by 
venerable trees. Within were the open fireplaces, 



xxviii INTRODUCTION 

with their inviting glow; candles took the place of gas 
or electricity, old-fashioned furniture filled the rooms; 
and the long tables groaned beneath the loads of whole- 
some food cooked according to long-cherished recipes. 
Characters. — According to Longfellow's own state- 
ment, all of the characters represented as taking part 
in the story-telling were real, most of them being well 
known to him. Three or four of them were in the 
habit of meeting from time to time at the Inn, — 
a thing which must have suggested the location of the 
scene, if not the plan of the work itself, — and to these 
he added others to make the group more complete and 
diversified. The innkeeper was Lyman Howe, the 
last of his family to occupy the old tavern, which was 
closed soon after his death in 1861; the Sicilian was 
Professor Luigi Monti, an author and lecturer of con- 
siderable note and a close friend of the poet; the student 
was Henry W. Wales; the musician was Ole Borne- 
mann Bull, a noted Norwegian violinist and com- 
poser, who visited America several times between 1843 
and 1880; the poet was Thomas William Parsons, best 
known to scholars for his translation of Dante's 
Divine Comedy ; the merchant was Israel Edrehi, a 
Boston Oriental dealer; and the theologian was Pro- 
fessor Daniel Tread well of Harvard. 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 
° PRELUDE 

THE WAYSIDE INN 

One Autumn night, in Sudbury town, 

Across the meadows bare and brown, 

The windows of the wayside inn 

Gleamed red with fire-Hght through the leaves 

Of woodbine, hanging from the eaves 5 

Their crimson curtains rent and thin. 

As ancient is this hostelry 

As any in the land may be, 

Built in the old Colonial day, 

°When men lived in a grander way, lo 

With ampler hospitality ; 

A kind of old °HobgobHn Hall, 

Now somewhat fallen to decay. 

With weather-stains upon the wall. 

And stairways worn, and "crazy doors, 15 

And creaking and uneven floors. 

And chimneys huge, and tiled and tall, 

A region of repose it seems, 

A place of slumber and of dreams, 

B 1 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INK 

Remote among the wooded Mils ! 20 

For there no noisy railway speeds, 

Its torch-race scattering smoke and °gleeds; 

But noon and night, the panting teams 

Stop under the great oaks, that throw 

Tangles of light and shade below, 25 

On roofs and doors and window-sills. 

Across the road the barns display 

Their lines of stalls, their mows of hay. 

Through the wide doors the breezes blow. 

The wattled cocks strut to and fro, 30 

And, half effaced by rain and shine, 

° The Red Horse prances on the sign. 

Round this old-fashioned, quaint abode 

Deep silence reigned, save when a gust 

Went rushing down the county road, 35 

And skeletons of leaves, and dust, 

A moment quickened by its breath, 

Shuddered and danced their dance of death. 

And through the ancient oaks overhead 

Mysterious voices moaned and fled. 40 

But from the parlor of the inn 
A pleasant murmur smote the ear. 
Like water rushing through a weir; 
Oft interrupted by the din 



THE WAYSIDE INK 3 

Of laughter and of loud applause, 45 

And, in each intervening pause. 

The music of a violin. 

The fire-light, shedding over all 

The splendor of its ruddy glow. 

Filled the whole parlor large and low; 50 

It gleamed on wainscot and on wall. 

It touched with more than wonted grace 

Fair Princess Mary's pictured face; 

It bronzed the rafters overhead, 

On the old spinet's ivory keys 55 

It played inaudible melodies. 

It crowned the sombre clock with flame, 

The hands, the hours, the maker's name, 

And painted with a livelier red 

The Landlord's coat-of-arms again; 6b 

And, flashing on the window-pane. 

Emblazoned with its light and shade 

The jovial rhymes, that still remain, 

Writ near a century ago. 

By the great ° Major Molineaux, 65 

Whom Hawthorne has immortal made. 

Before the blazing fire of wood 
Erect the rapt musician stood ; 
And ever and anon he bent 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

His head upon his instrument, 70 

And seemed to listen, till he caught 

Confessions of its secret thought, — 

The joy, the triumph, the lament, 

The exultation and the pain; 

Then, by the magic of his art, 75 

He soothed the throbbings of its heart, 

And lulled it into peace again. 

Around the fireside at their ease 

There sat a group of friends, entranced 

With the delicious melodies; 80 

Who from the far-off noisy town 

Had to the wayside inn come down, 

To rest beneath its old oak-trees. 

The fire-light on their faces glanced, 

Their shadows on the wainscot danced, 85 

And, though of different lands and speech, 

Each had his tale to tell, and each 

Was anxious to be pleased and please. 

And while the sweet musician plays, 

Let me in outline sketch them all, 90 

Perchance uncouthly as the blaze 

With its uncertain touch portrays 

Their shadowy semblance on the wall. 



THE WAYSIDE INN 5 

But first the Landlord will I trace; 

Grave in his aspect and attire ; 95 

A man of ancient pedigree, 

A Justice of the Peace was he, 

Known in all Sudbury as ''The Squire." 

Proud was he of his name and race, 

°0f old Sir William and Sir Hugh, loo 

And in the parlor, full in view. 

His coat-of-arms, well framed and glazed, 

Upon the wall in colors blazed ; 

He beareth ° gules upon his shield, 

A ° chevron argent in the field, 105 

With three wolf's heads, and for the crest 

A °Wyvern part-per-pale addressed 

Upon a helmet barred ; below 

The scroll reads, " °By the name of Howe.'' 

And over this, no longer bright, no 

Though glimmering with a latent light. 

Was hung the sword his grandsire bore. 

In the rebellious days of yore, 

Down there at Concord in the fight. 

A youth was there, of quiet ways, 115 

A Student of old books and days. 

To whom all tongues and lands were known. 



6 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And yet a lover of his own ; 

With many a. social virtue graced, 

And yet a friend of solitude; 120 

A man of such a genial mood 

The heart of all things he embraced, 

And yet of such fastidious taste, 

He never found the best too good. 

Books were his passion and delight, 125 

And in his upper room at home 

Stood many a rare and ° sumptuous tome. 

In vellum bound, with gold °bedight, 

Great volumes ° garmented in white, 

Recalling ° Florence, Pisa, Rome. 13° 

He loved the twilight that surrounds 

The border-land of old romance ; 

Where glitter ° hauberk, helm, and lance. 

And banner waves, and trumpet sounds, 

°And ladies ride with hawk on wrist, 135 

And mighty warriors sweep along, 

° Magnified by the purple mist, 

The dusk of centuries and of song. 

The chronicles of ° Charlemagne, 

Of ° Merlin and the °Mort d'Arthure, 140 

Mingled together in his brain 

With tales of °Flores and ° Blanchefleur, 



THE WAYSIDE INN 7 

°Sir Ferumbras, °Sir Eglamour, 
°Sir Launcelot, °Sir Morgadour, 
°Sir Guy, °Sir Be vis, °Sir Gawain. 145 

A young Sicilian, too, was there; — 

In sight of Etna born and bred, 

Some breath of its volcanic air 

Was glowing in his heart and brain, 

And, being rebellious to his liege, 150 

After ° Palermo's fatal siege. 

Across the western seas he fled, 

In good °King Bomba's happy reign 

His face was like a summer night. 

All flooded with a dusky light ; 15s 

His hands were small ; his teeth shone wliite 

As sea-shells, when he smiled or spoke ; 

His sinews supple and strong as oak ; 

Clean shaven was he as a priest, 

Who at the mass on Sunday sings, 160 

Save that upon his upper lip 

His beard, a good palm's length at least. 

Level and pointed at the tip, 

Shot sideways, like a swallow's wings. 

The poets read he o'er and o'er, 165 

And most of all the ° Immortal Four 



8 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Of Italy ; and next to those, 

°The story-telling bard of prose, 

Who wrote the joyous ° Tuscan tales 

Of the ° Decameron, that make 170 

°Fiesole's green hills and vales 

Remembered for Boccaccio's sake. 

Much too of music was his thought ; 

The melodies and measures fraught 

With sunshine and the open air, 175 

Of vineyards and the singing sea 

Of his beloved Sicily ; 

And much it pleased him to peruse 

°The songs of the Sicilian muse, — 

°BucoHc songs by °Meh sung 180 

In the familiar peasant tongue. 

That made men say, '' Behold ! once more 

The pitying gods to earth restore 

° Theocritus of Syracuse!" 

A Spanish Jew from ° Alicant 185 

With aspect grand and grave was there; 

Vender of silks and fabrics rare. 

And attar of rose from the ° Levant. 

Like an old ° Patriarch he appeared, 

Abraham or Isaac, or at least 19° 



THE WAYSIDE INN 9 

Some later Prophet or High-Priest ; 

With lustrous eyes, and olive skin, 

And, wildly tossed from cheeks and chin, 

The tumbling cataract of his beard. 

His garments breathed a spicy scent 195 

Of cinnamon and sandal blent, 

Like the soft aromatic gales 

That meet the mariner, who sails 

Through the ° Moluccas, and the seas 

That wash the shores of ° Celebes. 200 

All stories that recorded are 

By Pierre Alphonse he knew by heart, 

And it was rumored he could say 

°The parables of Sandabar, 

And all °the Fables of Pilpay, 205 

Or if not all, the greater part ! 

Well versed was he in Hebrew books, 

° Talmud and °Targum, and the lore 

Of °Kabala; and evermore 

There was a mystery in his looks ; 210 

His eyes seemed gazing far away. 

As if in vision or in trance 

He heard the solemn °sackbut play. 

And saw the Jewish maidens dance. 



10 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

A Theologian, °from the school 215 

Of Cambridge on the Charles, was there; 

Skilful alike with tongue and pen, 

He preached to all men everywhere 

The Gospel of the Golden Rule, 

The New Commandment given to men, 220 

Thinking the deed, and not the creed, 

Would help us in our utmost need. 

With reverent feet the earth he trod, 

Nor banished nature from his plan. 

But studied still with deep research 225 

To build the Universal Church, 

Lofty as is the love of God, 

And ample as the wants of man. 

A poet, too, was there, whose verse 

Was tender, musical, and terse; 230 

The inspiration, the delight. 

The gleam, the glory, the swift flight. 

Of thoughts so sudden, that they seem 

The revelations of a dream. 

All these were his ; but with them came 235 

No envy of another's fame ; 

He did not find his sleep less sweet 

° For music in some neighboring street, 



THE WAYSIDE INN 11 

Nor rustling hear in every breeze 

°The laurels of Miltiades. 240 

Honor and blessings on his head 

While living, good report when dead, 

Who, not too eager for renown. 

Accepts, but does not clutch, the crown ! 

Last the Musician, as he stood 245 

Illumined by that fire of wood ; 

Fair-haired, blue-eyed, his aspect blithe, 

His figure tall and straight and lithe. 

And every feature of his face 

Revealing his Norwegian race; 250 

A radiance, streaming from within. 

Around his eyes and forehead beamed, 

°The Angel with the violin. 

Painted by Raphael, he seemed. 

He lived in that ideal world 255 

Whose language is not speech, but song; 

Around him evermore the throng 

Of elves and sprites their dances whirled ; 

The °Stromkarl sang, the cataract hurled 

Its headlong waters from the height; 260 

And mingled in the wild delight 

The scream of sea-birds in their flight, 



12 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

The rumor of the forest trees, 

The plunge of the implacable seas, 

The tumult of the wind at night, 265 

Voices of eld, like trumpets blowing. 

Old ballads, and wild melodies 

Through mist and darkness pouring forth, 

Like °Elivagar's river flowing 

Out of the glaciers of the North. 270 

The instrument on which he played 

Was in ° Cremona's workshops made, 

By a great master of the past, 

Ere yet was lost the art divine ; 

Fashioned of maple and of pine, 275 

That in °Tyrolian forests vast 

Had rocked and wrestled with the blast : 

Exquisite was it in design. 

Perfect in each minutest part, 

A marvel of the lutist's art; 280 

And in its hollow chamber, thus. 

The maker from whose hands it came 

Had written his unrivalled name, — 

°'' Antonius Stradivarius." 

And when he played, the atmosphere 285 

Was filled with magic, and the ear 



THE WAYSIDE INN 13 

Caught echoes of that Harp of Gold, 

Whose music had so weird a sound, 

The hunted stag forgot to bound, 

The leaping rivulet backward rolled, 290 

The birds came down from bush and tree. 

The dead came from beneath the sea. 

The maiden to the harper's knee ! 

The music ceased; the applause was loud, 

The pleased musician smiled and bowed; 295 

The wood-fire clapped its hands of flame. 

The shadows on the wainscot stirred. 

And from the harpsichord there came 

A ghostly murmur of acclaim, 

A sound like that sent down at night 300 

By birds of passage in their flight. 

From the remotest distance heard. 

Then silence followed ; then began 

A clamor for the Landlord's tale, — 

The story promised them of old, 305 

They said, but always left untold; 

And he, although a bashful man, 

And all his courage seemed to fail, 

Finding excuse of no avail. 

Yielded ; and thus the story ran. 310 



°THE LANDLORD'S TALE 

PAUL REVERE'S ride 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear 

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; 

Hardly a man is now alive 

Who remembers that famous day and year. 5 

He said to his friend, " If the British march 

By land or sea from the town to-night. 

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch 

Of the ° North Church tower as a signal light, — 

One, if by land, and two, if by sea; lo 

And I on the opposite shore will be, 

Ready to ride and spread the alarm 

Through every ° Middlesex village* and farm, 

For the country-folk to be up and to arm." 

Then he said, ''Good night!" and with muffled 

oar 15 

Silently rowed to the ° Charlestown shore, 

14 



PAUL REVERE' S RIDE *^ ^ 15 

Just as the moon rose over the bay, 

Where swinging wide at her moorings lay 

The Somerset, British man-of-war; 

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar 20 

Across the moon hke a prison bar, 

And a huge black hulk, that was magnified 

By its own reflection in the tide. 

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street, 
Wanders and watches with eager ears, 25 

Till in the silence around him he hears 
The muster of men at the barrack door. 
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet. 
And the measured tread of the ° grenadiers. 
Marching down to their boats on the shore. 30 

Then he climbed to the tower of the church. 

Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread. 

To the belfry-chamber overhead. 

And startled the pigeons from their perch 

On the sombre rafters, that round him made 35 

Masses and moving shapes of shade, — 

Up the trembling ladder, steep and tall. 

To the highest window in the wall, 

Where he paused to listen and look down 



16 TALES OF A WAYSlDE INN 

A moment on the roofs of the town, 40 

And the moonhght flowing over all. 

Beneath, in the churchyard, la^ the dead, 

In their night-encampment on .the hill, 

Wrapped in silence so deep and still 

That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, 45 

The watchful night-wind, as it went 

Creeping along from tent to tent, 

And seeming to whisper, '' All is well ! " 

A moment only he feels the spell 

Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread 50 

Of the lonely belfry and the dead ; 

For suddenly all his thoughts are bent 

On a. shadowy something far away, 

Where the river widens to meet the bay, — 

A line of black that bends and floats 55 

On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. 

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 

Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride 

On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. 

Now he patted his horse's side, 60 

Now gazed at the landscape far and near, 

Then, impetuous, stamped the earth. 



PAUL REVERE^ S RIDE 17 

And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; 

But mostly he watched with eager search 

The belfry-tower of the Old North Church, 65 

As it rose above the graves on the hill, 

Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. 

And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry's height 

A glimmer, and then a gleam of light ! 

He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, 70 

But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight 

A second lamp in the belfry burns ! 

A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 

And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 75 

Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; 

That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the 

light. 
The fate of a nation was riding that night ; 
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his 

flight. 
Kindled the land into flame with its heat. 80 

He has left the village and mounted the steep, 
\nd beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, 
[s the ° Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; 
'Vnd under the alders, that skirt its edge, 



18 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, 8f 

Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. 

It was twelve by the village clock 

When he crossed the bridge into °Medford town. 

He heard the crowing of the cock, 

And the barking of the farmer's dog, 90 

And felt the damp of the river fog, 

That rises after the sun goes down. . 

It was one by the village clock. 

When he galloped into Lexington. 

He saw the gilded weathercock 95 

°Swim in the moonlight as he passed, 

And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, 

Gaze at him with a spectral glare. 

As if they already stood aghast 

At the bloody work they would look upon. 100 

It was two by the village clock. 

When he came to ° the bridge in Concord town. 

He heard the bleating of the flock. 

And the twitter of birds among the trees, 

And felt the breath of the morning breeze 105 

Blowing over the meadows brown. 



PAUL REVERE^ S RIDE 19 

And one was safe and asleep in his bed 

Who at the bridge would be first to fall, 

Who that day would be lying dead, 

Pierced by a British musket-ball. no 

You know the rest. In the books you have read. 
How the British Regulars fired and fled, — 
How the farmers gave them ball for ball. 
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall. 
Chasing the red-coats down the lane, nS 

Then crossing the fields to emerge again 
Under the trees at the turn of the road, 
And only pausing to fire and load. 

So through the night rode Paul Revere; 

And so through the night went his cry of alarm 120 

To every Middlesex village and farm, — 

A cry of defiance and not of fear, 

A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, 

And a word that shall echo forevermore ! 

For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, 125 

Through all our history, to the last. 

In the hour of darkness and peril and need. 

The people will waken and listen to hear 

The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed. 

And the midnight message of Paul Revere. 130 



INTERLUDE 

The Landlord ended thus his tale, 
Then rising took down from its nail 
The sword that hung there, dim with dust, 
And cleaving to its sheath with rust, 
And said, ''This sword was in the fight." 5 

The Poet seized it, and exclaimed, 
''It is the sword of a good knight. 
Though homespun was his coat-of-mail ; 
What matter if it be not named 
°Joyeuse, °Colada, °Durindale, 10 

°Excalibar, or °Aroundight, 
Or other name the books record ? 
Your ancestor, who bore this sword 
As Colonel of the Volunteers, 
Mounted upon his old gray mare, 15 

Seen here and there and everywhere, 
To me a grander shape appears 
Than old Sir William, or what not, 
Clinking about in foreign lands 

20 



INTERLUDE 21 

With iron gauntlets on his hands, 20 

And on his head ° an iron pot ! " 

All laughed; the Landlord's face grew red 

As his ° escutcheon on the wall; 

He could not comprehend at all 

The drift of what the Poet said ; 25 

For those who had been longest dead 

Were always greatest in his eyes ; 

And he was speechless with surprise 

To see Sir William's plumed head 

Brought to a level with the rest, 3° 

And made the subject of a jest. 

And this perceiving, to appease 

The Landlord's wrath, the others' fears, 

The Student said, with careless ease, 

''The ladies and the cavaliers, 35 

The arms, the loves, the courtesies, 

The deeds of high ° emprise, I sing ! 

Thus °Ariosto says, in words 

That have the stately stride and ring 

Of armed knights and clashing swords. 40 

Now listen to the tale I bring ; 

Listen ! though not to me belong 



22 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

The flowing draperies of his song, 

The words that rouse, the voice that charms. 

The Landlord's tale was one of arms, 45 

Only a tale of love is mine. 

Blending the human and divine, 

A tale of the Decameron, told 

In °Palmieri's garden old. 

By °Fiametta, laurel-crowned, 50 

While her companions lay around. 

And heard the intermingled sound 

Of airs that on their errands sped, 

And wild birds gossiping overhead, 

And lisp of leaves, and fountain's fall, 55 

And her own voice more sweet than all. 

Telling the tale, which, wanting these. 

Perchance may lose its power to please." 



°THE STUDENT'S TALE 

THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO 

One summer morning, when the sun was hot, 
Weary with labor in his garden-plot, 
On a rude bench beneath his cottage eaves, 
Ser Federigo sat among the leaves 
Of a huge vine, that, with its arms outspread, s 

Hung its delicious clusters overhead. 
Below him, through the lovely valley, flowed 
The river °Arno, like a winding road. 
And from its banks were lifted high in air 
The spires and roofs of ° Florence called the Fair; lo 
To him a marble tomb, that rose above 
His wasted fortunes and his buried love. 
For there, in banquet and in tournament. 
His wealth had lavished been, his substance spent, 
To woo and lose, since ill his wooing sped, 15 

°Monna Giovanna, who his rival wed. 
Yet ever in his fancy reigned supreme, 
The ideal woman of a young man's dream. 

23 



24 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INK 

Then he withdrew, in poverty and pain, 

To this small farm, the last of his domain, 20 

His only comfort and his only care 

To prune his vines, and plant the fig and pear; 

His only forester and only guest 

His falcon, faithful to him, when the rest. 

Whose willing hands had found so light of yore 25 

The brazen knocker of his palace door. 

Had now no strength to lift the wooden latch. 

That entrance gave beneath a roof of thatch. 

Companion of his solitary ways, 

° Purveyor of his feasts on holidays, 3° 

On him this melancholy man bestowed 

The love with which his nature overflowed. 

And so the empty-handed years went round. 

Vacant, though voiceful with prophetic sound, 

And so, that summer morn, he sat and mused 35 

With folded, patient hands, as he was used, 

And dreamily before his half-closed sight 

Floated the vision of his lost delight. 

Beside him, motionless, the drowsy bird 

Dreamed of the chase, and in his slumber heard 40 

The sudden, scythe-like sweep of wings, that dare 

The headlong plunge thro' eddying gulfs of air, 

Then, starting broad awake upon his perch, i 



THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO 25 

° Tinkled his bells, like mass-bells in a church, 

And, looking at his master, seemed to say, 45 

'^Ser Federigo, shall we hunt to-day?" 

Ser Federigo thought not of the chase; 

The tender vision of her lovely face, 

I will not say he seems to see, he sees 

In the leaf-shadows of the trellises, 50 

Herself, yet not herself; a lovely child 

With flowing tresses, and eyes wide and wild, 

Coming undaunted up the garden walk, 

And looking not at him, but at the hawk. 

"Beautiful falcon !" said he, ''would that I 55 

Might hold thee on my wrist, or see thee fly !" 

The voice was hers, and made strange echoes start 

Through all the haunted chambers of his heart, 

As an °2eolian harp through gusty doors 

Of some old ruin its wild music pours. 60 

'' Who is thy mother, my fair boy ? " he said, 

His hand laid softly on that shining head. 

''Monna Giovanna. — Will you let me stay 

A little while, and with your falcon play ? 

We live there, just beyond your garden wall, 65 

In the great house behind the poplars tall." 



26 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

So he spake on; and Federigo heard 

As from afar each softly uttered word, 

And drifted onward through the golden gleams 

And shadows of the misty sea of dreams, 70 

As mariners becalmed through vapors drift, 

And feel the sea beneath them sink and lift. 

And hear far off the mournful breakers roar, 

And voices calling faintly from the shore ! 

Then, waking from his pleasant reveries, 75 

He took the little boy upon his knees, 

And told him stories of his gallant bird, 

Till in their friendship he became a third. 



Monna Giovanna, widowed in her prime, 

Had come with friends to pass the summer time 80 

In her grand villa, half-way up the hill, 

O'erlooking Florence, but retired and still ; 

With iron gates, that opened through long lines 

Of ° sacred ilex and ° centennial pines. 

And ° terraced gardens, and broad steps of stone, 85 

And ° sylvan deities, with moss o'ergrown, 

And fountains ° palpitating in the heat. 

And all °Val d'Arno stretched beneath its feet. 

Here in seclusion, as a widow may, 



THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO 27 

The lovely lady whiled the hours away, 90 

Pacing in sable robes the statued hall, 

Herself the stateliest statue among all. 

And seeing more and more, with secret joy, 

Her husband risen and living in her boy. 

Till the lost sense of life returned again, 95 

Not as delight, but as relief from pain. 

Meanwhile the boy, rejoicing in his strength. 

Stormed down the terraces from length to length; 

The screaming peacock chased in hot pursuit, 

And climbed the garden trellises for fruit. 100 

But his chief pastime was to watch the flight 

Of a ° gerfalcon, soaring into sight. 

Beyond the trees that fringed the garden wall. 

Then downward stooping at some distant call ; 

And as he gazed full often wondered he 105 

Who might the master of the falcon be. 

Until that happy morning, when he found 

Master and falcon in the cottage ground. 

And now a shadow and a terror fell 

On the great house, as if a ° passing-bell no 

Tolled from the tower, and filled each spacious room 

With secret awe, and ° preternatural gloom; 

The petted boy grew ill, and day by day 

Pined with mysterious malady away. 



28 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

The mother's heart would not be comforted; 115 

Her darhng seemed to her already dead, 

And often, sitting by the sufferer's side, 

''What can I do to comfort thee?" she cried. 

At first the silent lips made no reply, 

But, moved at length by her ° importunate cry, 120 

"Give me," he answered, with imploring tone, 

" Ser Federigo's falcon for my own ! " 

No answer could the astonished mother make; 

How could she ask, e'en for her darling's sake. 

Such favor at a luckless lover's hand, 125 

Well knowing that to ask was to command ? 

Well knowing, what all falconers confessed, 

In all the land that falcon was the best, 

The master's pride and passion and delight. 

And the sole ° pursuivant of this poor knight. 130 

But yet, for her child's sake, she could no less 

Than give assent, to soothe his restlessness, 

So promised, and then promising to keep 

Her promise sacred, saw him fall asleep. 

The morrow was a bright September morn ; 135 

The earth was beautiful as if new-born; 
There was that nameless splendor everywhere, 



THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO 29 

That wild exhilaration in the air, 

Which makes the passers in the city street 

Congratulate each other as they meet. 140 

Two lovely ladies, clothed in cloak and hood, 

Passed through the garden gate into the wood. 

Under the lustrous leaves, and through the sheen 

Of dewy sunshine showering down between. 

The one, close-hooded, had the attractive grace 145 

Which sorrow sometimes lends a woman's face ; 

Her dark eyes moistened with °the mists that roll 

From the gulf-stream of passion in the soul; 

The other with her hood thrown back, her hair 

Making a golden glory in the air, 150 

Her cheeks suffused with an ° auroral blush. 

Her young heart singing louder than the thrush. 

So walked, that morn, through mingled light and 

shade. 
Each by the other's presence lovelier made, 
Monna Giovanna and her bosom friend, 155 

Intent upon their errand and its end. 

They found Ser Federigo at his toil. 

Like banished Adam, delving in the soil ; 

And when he looked and these fair women spied, 

The garden suddenly was glorified ; 160 



# 



30 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

°His long-lost Eden was restored again, 

And the strange river winding through the plain 

No longer was the Arno to his eyes, 

But ° the Euphrates watering Paradise ! 

Monna Giovanna raised her stately head, 165 

And with fair words of salutation said : 

'' Ser Federigo, we come here as friends. 

Hoping in this to make some poor amends 

For past unkindness. I who ne'er before 

Would even cross the threshold of your door, 170 

I who in happier days such pride maintained. 

Refused your banquets, and your gifts disdained, 

This morning come, a self-invited guest. 

To put your generous nature to the test. 

And breakfast with you under your own vine." 175 

To which he answered : ^' Poor desert of mine. 

Not your unkindness call it, for if aught 

Is good in me of feeling or of thought. 

From you it comes, and this last grace outweighs 

All sorrows, all regrets of other days." 180 

And after further compliment and talk. 
Among the dahlias in the garden w^alk 



THE FALCON OF SEE FEDERIGO 31 

He left his guests; and to his cottage turned, 

And as he entered for a moment yearned 

For the lost splendors of the days of old, 185 

The ruby glass, the silver and the gold, 

And felt how piercing is the sting of pride, 

By want embittered and intensified. 

He looked about him for some means or way 

To keep this unexpected holiday; 190 

Searched every cupboard, and then searched again. 

Summoned the maid, who came, but came in vain; 

''The °Signor did not hunt to-day," she said, 

'' There's nothing in the house but wine and bread." 

Then suddenly the drowsy falcon shook 195 

His little bells, with that sagacious look. 

Which said, as plain as language to the ear, 

''If anything is wanting, I am here !" 

Yes, everything is wanting, gallant bird ! 

The master seized thee without further word, 200 

Like thine own °lure, he whirled thee around; ah 

me ! 
The pomp and flutter of brave falconry. 
The bells, the ° jesses, the bright scarlet hood, 
The flight and the pursuit o'er field and wood, 
All these forevermore are ended now; 205 

No longer victor, but the victim thou ! 



32 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Then on the board a snow-white cloth he spread, 
Laid on its wooden dish the loaf of bread, 
Brought purple grapes with autumn sunshine hot, 
The fragrant peach, the juicy *^bergamot; 210 

Then in the midst a flask of wine he placed. 
And with autumnal flowers the banquet graced. 
Ser Federigo, would not these suffice 
Without thy falcon stuffed with cloves and spice ? 

When all was ready, and the courtly dame 215 

With her companion to the cottage came, 

Upon Ser Federigo's brain there fell 

The wild enchantment of a magic spell ; 

The room they entered, mean and low and small, 

Was changed into a sumptuous banquet-hall, 220 

With ° fanfares by aerial trumpets blown; 

The rustic chair she sat on was a throne; 

He ate celestial food, and a divine 

Flavor was given to his country wine. 

And the poor falcon, fragrant with his spice, 225 

A peacock was, or bird of paradise ! 

When the repast was ended, they arose 
And passed again into the ° garden-close. 



THE FALCON OF 8ER FEDERIGO 33 

Then said the lady, '' Far too well I know, 

Remembering still the days of long ago, 230 

Though you betray it not, with what surprise 

You see me here in this familiar wise. 

You have no children, and you cannot guess 

What anguish, what unspeakable distress 

A mother feels, whose child is lying ill, 235 

Nor how her heart anticipates his will. 

And yet for this, you see me lay aside 

All womanly reserve and check of pride. 

And ask the thing most precious in your sight, 

Your falcon, your sole comfort and delight, 240 

Which if you find it in your heart to give. 

My poor, unhappy boy perchance may live." 

Sir Federigo listens, and replies, 

With tears of love and pity in his eyes : 

"Alas, dear lady ! there can be no task 245 

So sweet to me, as giving when you ask. 

One little hour ago, if I had known 

This wish of yours, it would have been my own. 

But thinking in what manner I could best 

Do honor to the presence of my guest, 250 

I deemed that nothing worthier could be 

Than what most dear and precious was to me, 



34 . TALES OF A WA YSIDE liViV 

And so my gallant falcon breathed his last 
To furnish forth this morning our repast." 

In mute contrition, mingled with dismay, 255 

The gentle lady turned her eyes away, 

Grieving that he such sacrifice should make, 

And kill his falcon for a woman's sake, 

Yet feeling in her heart a woman's pride. 

That nothing she could ask for was denied ; 260 

Then took her leave, and passed out at the gate 

With footstep slow and soul disconsolate. 

Three days went by, and lo ! a passing-bell 

Tolled from the little chapel in the dell ; 

Ten strokes Ser Federigo heard, and said, 265 

Breathing a prayer, '' Alas ! her child is dead !" 

Three months went by ; and lo ! a merrier chime 

Rang from the chapel bells at Christmas time; 

The cottage was deserted, and no more 

Ser Federigo sat beside its door. 270 

But now, with servitors to do his will. 

In the grand villa, half-way up the hill. 

Sat at the Christmas feast, and at his side 

Monna Giovanna, his beloved bride. 

Never so beautiful, so kind, so fair, 275 



THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO 35 

Enthroned once more in the old rustic chair, 

High-perched upon the back of which there stood 

The image of a falcon carved in wood, 

And underneath the inscription, with a date, 

''AH things come round to him who will but wait. "280 



f 



'iM» / ystr 



INTERLUDE 

Soon as the story reached its end, 

One, over eager to commend. 

Crowned it with injudicious praise; 

And then the voice of blame found vent, 

And fanned the embers of dissent 5 

Into a somewhat Uvely blaze. 

The Theologian shook his head ; 

''These old Italian tales," he said, 

" From the much-praised Decameron down 

Through all the rabble of the rest, 10 

Are either trifling, dull, or lewd; 

The gossip of a neighborhood 

In some remote provincial tow^n, 

A scandalous chronicle at best ! 

They seem to me a stagnant fen, • 15 

Grown rank with rushes and with reeds, 

Where a white lily, now and then. 

Blooms in the midst of noxious weeds 

And deadly nightshade on its banks." 

To this the Student straight replied, 20 

"For the white lily, many thanks! 

36 



INTERLUDE 37 

One should not say, with too much pride, 

Fountain, I will not drink of thee ! 

Nor were it grateful to forget. 

That °from these reservoirs and tanks 25 

Even imperial Shakspeare drew 

His °Moor of Venice and the °Jew, 

And Romeo and Juliet, 

And many a famous comedy." 

Then a long pause; till some one said, 30 

'' An Angel is flying overhead ! " 
At these words spake the Spanish Jew, 
And murmured with an inward breath : 
"God grant, if what you say is true 
It may not be the Angel of Death ! " 35 

And then another pause ; and then, 

Stroking his beard, he said again: 

''This brings back to my memory 

A story in the ° Talmud told. 

That book of gems, that book of gold, 40 

Of wonders many and manifold, 

A tale that often comes to me, 

And fills my heart, and haunts my brain. 

And never wearies nor grows old." 



°THE SPANISH JEW'S TALE 

THE LEGEND OF RABBI BEN LEVI 

Rabbi Ben Levi, on the Sabbath, read 

A volume of the Law, in which it said, 

"No man shall look upon my face and live." 

Aud as he read, he prayed that God would give 

His faithful servant with mortal eye ' 5 

To look upon His face and yet not die. 

Then fell a sudden shadow on the page ' 
And, lifting up his eyes, grown dim with age, 
He saw the Angel of Death before him stand, 
Holding a naked sword in his right hand. 10 

Rabbi Ben Levi was a righteous man. 
Yet through his veins a chill of terror ran. 
With trembling voice he said, " What wilt thou here ? " 
The angel answered, '' Lo ! the time draws near 
When thou must die; yet first, by God's decree, 15 
Whatever thou askest shall be granted thee." 
Replied the Rabbi, " Let these living eyes 
First look upon my place in Paradise." 

38 



THE LEGEND OF RABBI BEN LEVI 39 

Then said the Angel, "Come with me aixl Ic^ok." 

Rabbi Ben Levi closed the sacred boo^v 20 

And rising, and uplifting his gray heM, 

'^ Give me thy sword," he to the Angel gaid, 

"Lest thou shouldst fall upon me by the way." 

The Angel smiled and hastened to obey, 

Then led him forth to the Celestial Town, 25 

And set him on the wall, whence, gazing down, 

Rabbi Ben Levi, with his living eyes, 

Might look upon his place in Paradise. 

Then straight into the city of the Lord 

The Rabbi leaped with the Death- Angel's sword, 30 

And through the streets there swept a sudden breath 

Of something there unknown, which men call death. 

Meanwhile the Angel stayed without, and cried, 

"Come back !" To which the Rabbi's voice repUed, 

" No ! in the name of God, whom I adore, 35 

I swear that hence I will depart no more ! " . 

Then all the Angels*cried, " O Holy One, . ,:-. 

See what the son of Levi here has done ! 

The kingdom of Heaven he takes by violence, 

And in Thy name refuses to go hence ! " 40 

The Lord replied, "My Angels, be not wroth; 

Did e'er the son of Levi break his oath ? 



40 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Let him remain; for he with mortal eye 

Shall look upon my face and yet not die." 

Beyond the outer wall Ihe Angel of Death 45 

Heard the great voice, and said, with panting breath, 

"Give back the sword, and let me go my way." 

Whereat the Rabbi paused, and answered, '^ Nay ! 

Anguish enough already has it caused 

Among the sons of men." And while he paused 50 

He heard the awful mandate of the Lord 

Resounding through the air, '^ Give back the sword ! " 

The Rabbi bowed his head in silent prayer; 

Then said he to the dreadful Angel, '' Swear, 

No human eye shall look on it again ; 5S 

But when thou takest away the souls of men, 

Thyself unseen, and with an unseen sword. 

Thou wilt perform the bidding of the Lord." 

The Angel took the sword agjaiii, and swore. 

And walks on earth unseen forevefmore. 60 



INTERLUDE 

He ended : and a kind of spell 
Upon the silent listeners fell. 
His solemn manner and his words 
Had touched the deep, mysterious chords, 
That vibrate in each human breast 5 

Alike, but not alike confessed. 
The spiritual world seemed near; 
And close above them, full of fear, 
Its awful ° adumbration passed, 
A luminous shadow, vague and vast. 10 

They almost feared to look, lest there, 
Embodied from the ° impalpable air. 
They might behold the Angel stand. 
Holding the sword in his right hand. 
At last, but in a voice subdued, 15 

Not to disturb their dreamy mood. 
Said the Sicilian : " While you spoke, 
Telling your legend marvellous. 
Suddenly in my memory woke 
41 



42 INTERLUDE 

The thought of one, now gone from us, — 20 

An old ° Abate, meek and mild. 

My friend and teacher, when a child, 

Who sometimes in those days of old 

The legend of an Angel told, 

Which ran, if I remember, thus.'* 25 



°THE SICILIAN'S TALE 

KING ROBERT OF SICILY 

° Robert of Sicily, brother of °Pope Urbane 

And ° Valmond, Emperor of Aliemaine, 

Apparelled in magnificent attire, 

With retinue of many a knight and squire, 

On °St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat * s 

And heard the priests chant the ° Magnificat. 

And as he listened, o'er and o'er again 

Repeated, like a burden or refrain. 

He caught the words, "° Deposuit potentes 

De sede, et exaltavit humiles'' ; lo 

And slowly lifting up his kingly head 

He to a learned clerk beside him said, 

^' What mean these words ?" The clerk made answer 

meet, « 

" He has put down the mighty from their seat, 
And has exalted them of low degree." 15 

Thereat King Robert muttered scornfully, 
" 'Tis well that such ° seditious words are sung 
Only by priests and in the Latin tongue; 

43 



44 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

For unto priests and people be it known, 
There is no power can push me from my throne ! " 20 
And leaning back, he yawned and fell asleep, 
Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep. 

When he awoke, it was already night; 
The church was empty, and there was no light, 
Save where the lamps, that glimmered few and 
faint, 25 

Lighted a little space before some saint. 
He started from his seat and gazed around, 
But saw no living thing and heard no sound. 
He groped towards the door, but it was locked ; 
He cried aloud, and Ustened, and then knocked, 30 
And uttered awful threatenings and complaints, 
And ° imprecations upon men and saints. 
The sounds re-echoed from the roof and walls 
As if dead priests were laughing in their ° stalls ! 

At length the «exton, hearing from without 35 

The tumult of the knocking and the shout, 
And thinking thieves were in the house of prayer, 
Came with his lantern, asking, ''Who is there?" 
Half choked with rage. King Robert fiercely said, 
''Open: 'tis I, the King ! Art thou afraid ? " 40 



KING ROBERT OF SICILY 45 

The frightened sexton, muttering, with a curse, 
''This is some drunken vagabond, or worse !" 
Turned the great key and flung the portal wide ; 
A man rushed by him at a single stride, 
Haggard, half naked, without hat or cloak, 45 

Who neither turned, nor looked at him, nor spoke, 
But leaped into the blackness of the night, 
And vanished like a spectre from his sight. 

Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane 

And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, 50 

Despoiled of his magnificent attire, 

Bare-headed, breathless, and ° besprent with mire, 

With sense of wrong and outrage desperate, 

Strode on and thundered at the palace gate; 

Rushed through the court-yard, thrusting in his rage 55 

To right and left each ° seneschal and page. 

And hurried up the broad and sounding stair, 

His white face ghastly in the torches' glare. 

From hall to hall he passed with breathless speed; 

Voices and cries he heard, but did not heed, 60 

Until at last he reached the banquet-room, 

Blazing with light, and breathing with perfume. 

There on the °dais sat another king, 



46 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Wearing his robes, his crown, his signet-ring, 

King Robert's self in features, form, and height, 65 

But all transfigured with angelic light ! 

It was an Angel ; and his presence there 

With a divine ° effulgence filled the air, 

°An exaltation, piercing the disguise. 

Though none the hidden Angel recognize. 70 

A moment speechless, motionless, amazed, 
The throneless monarch on the Angel gazed, 
Who met his looks of anger and surprise 
With the divine compassion of his eyes; 
Then said, '^ Who art thou? and why com'st thou 
here?" 75 

To which King Robert answered, with a sneer, 
'' I am the King, and come to claim my own 
From an impostor, who usurps my throne ! " 
And suddenly, at these audacious words, 
Up sprang the angry guests, and drew their swords; 
The Angel answered, with unruffled brow, 81 

'' Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester, thou 
Henceforth shalt wear °the bells and scalloped cape, 
And for ° thy counsellor shalt lead an ape ; 
Thou shalt obey my servants when they call, 85 

And wait upon my ° henchmen in the hall !" 



KING ROBERT OF SICILY 47 

Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers, 

They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs; 

A group of tittering pages ran before, 

And as they opened wide the folding-door, 90 

His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms. 

The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms. 

And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring 

With the mock plaudits of '' Long hve the King !" 

Next morning, waking with the day's first beam, 95 

He said within himself, "It was a dream !" 

But the straw rustled as he turned his head. 

There were the cap and bells beside his bed, 

Around him rose the bare, discolored walls. 

Close by, the steeds were champing in their stalls, 100 

And in the corner, a revolting shape, 

Shivering and chattering sat the wretched ape. 

It was no dream; the world he loved so much 

Had turned to dust and ashes at his touch ! 

Days came and went ; and now returned again 105 

To Sicily the old ° Saturnian reign ; 

Under the Angel's governance benign 

The happy island danced with corn and wine, 

And deep within the mountain's burning breast 



48 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

°Enceladus, the giant, was at rest. no 

Meanwhile King Robert yielded to his fate, 

Sullen and silent and disconsolate. 

Dressed in the motley garb that Jesters wear, 

With looks bewildered arid a vacant stare, 

Close shaven above the ears, as monks are shorn, 115 

By courtiers mocked, by pages laughed to scorn, 

His only friend the ape, his only food 

What others left, — he still was unsubdued. 

And when the Angel met him on his way, 

And half in earnest, half in jest, would say, 120 

Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feel 

°The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel, 

''Art thou the King?" the passion of his woe 

Burst from him in resistless overflow, 

And, lifting high his forehead, he would fling 125 

The haughty answer back, '' I am, I am the King ! " 

Almost three years were ended; when there came 

Ambassadors of great repute and name 

From Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, ^ 

Unto King Robert, saying that Pope Urbane 130 

By letter summoned them forthwith to come 

On Holy Thursday to his city of Rome. 

The Angel with great joy received his guests. 



KING ROBERT OF SlClLY 49 

And gave them presents of embroidered vests, 

And velvet mantles with rich ermine lined, 135 

And rings and jewels of the rarest kind. 

Then he departed with them o'er the sea 

Into the lovely land of Italy, 

Whose loveliness was more resplendent made 

By the mere passing of that cavalcade, 140 

With plumes, and cloaks, and ° housings, and the 

stir 
Of jewelled bridle and of golden spur. 

And lo ! among the ° menials, in mock state, 

Upon a ° piebald steed, with shambling gait. 

His cloak of fox-tails flapping in the wind, 145 

The solemn ape demurely perched behind. 

King Robert rode, making huge merriment 

In all the country towns through which they went. 

The Pope received them with great pomp, and 

blare 
Of bannered trumpets, on ° Saint Peter's square, 150 
Giving his benediction and embrace, 
Fervent, and full of apostolic grace. 
While with congratulations and with prayers 
He entertained the Angel unawares, 



50 , TALES OF A WAYSIDE INl^ 

Robert, the Jester, bursting through the crowd, 155 

Into their presence rushed, and cried aloud, 

^' I am the King ! Look, and behold in me 

Robert, your brother. King of Sicily ! 

This man, who wears my semblance to your eyes. 

Is an impostor in a king's disguise, 160 

Do you not know me ? does no voice within 

Answer my cry, and say we are akin ? " 

The Pope in silence, but with troubled mien, 

Gazed at the Angel's countenance serene; 

The Emperor, laughing, said, '' It is strange sport 165 

To keep a madman for thy Fool at court ! " 

And the poor, baffled Jester in disgrace 

Was hustled back among the populace. 

In solemn state the ° Holy Week went by. 

And Easter Sunday gleamed upon the sky ; 170 

The presence of the Angel, with its light, 

Before the sun rose, made the city bright. 

And with new fervor filled the hearts of men, 

Who felt that Christ indeed had risen again. 

Even the Jester, on his bed of straw, 175 

With haggard eyes the unwonted splendor saw, 

He felt within a power unfelt before. 

And, kneeling humbly on his chamber floor. 



KING ROBERT OF SICILY 61 

He heard the rushing garments of the Lord 
Sweep through the silent air, ascending heaven- 
ward. i8o 

And now the visit ending, and once more 

Valmond returning to the Danube's shore, 

Homeward the Angel journeyed, and again 

The land was made resplendent with his train, 

Flashing along the towns of Italy 185 

Unto ° Salerno, and from there by sea. 

And when once more within ° Palermo's wall. 

And, seated on the throne in his great hall. 

He heard the ° Angelus from convent towers, 

As if the better world conversed with ours, - 190 

He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher, 

And with a gesture bade the rest retire; 

And when they were alone, the Angel said, 

''Art thou the King?" Then bowing down his head, 

King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast, 195 

And meekly answered him : " Thou knowest best ! 

My sins as scarlet are ; let me go hence. 

And in some cloister's school of penitence. 

Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven. 

Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul is shriven ! " 200 

The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face 



52 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

A holy light illumined all the place, 

And through the open window, loud and clear, 

They heard the monks chant in the chapel near, 

Above the stir and tumult of the street : 205 

" He has put down the mighty from their seat, 

And has exalted them of low degree ! " 

And through the chant a second melody 

Rose like the throbbing of a single string : 

"I am an Angel, and thou art the King !" 210 

King Robert, who was standing near the throne, 

Lifted his eyes, and lo ! he was alone ! 

But all apparelled as in days of old. 

With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold ; 

And when his courtiers came, they found him there 215 

Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer. 



INTERLUDE 

And then the blue-eyed Norseman told 

A °Saga of the days of old. 

''There is," said he, " sl wondrous book 

Of Legends in the old Norse tongue, 

Of the dead kings of °Norroway, — 5 

Legends that once were told or sung 

In many a smoky fireside nook 

Of Iceland, in the ancient day, 

By ° wandering Saga-man or Scald ; 

° Heimskringla is the volume called ; lo 

And he who looks may find therein 

The story that I now begin." 

And in each pause the story made 
LTpon his violin he played, 

As an appropriate interlude, 15 

Fragments of old Norwegian tunes 
That bound in one the separate ° runes, 
And held the mind in perfect mood, 

53 



54 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN' 

Entwining and encircling all 

The strange and antiquated rhymes 20 

With melodies of olden times; 

As over some half-ruined wall, 

Disjointed and about to fall, 

Fresh woodbines climb and interlace, 

And keep the loosened stones in place. 25 



°THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAP 



'THE CHALLENGE OF THOR 

I AM the God °Thor, 

I am the War God, 

I am the Thunderer ! 

Here in my Northland, 

My fastness and fortress, 5 

Reign I forever ! 

Here amid icebergs 

Rule I the nations; 

This is my hammer, 

Miolner the mighty; 10 

Giants and sorcerers 

Cannot withstand it ! 

These are the gauntlets 
Wherewith I wield it, 
And hurl it afar off; 15 

65 



56 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

This is my girdle; 
Whenever I brace it, 
Strength is redoubled ! 

The light thou beholdest 

Stream through the heavens, 20 

In flashes of crimson, 

Is but my red beard 

Blown by the night-wind, 

Affrighting the nations ! 

°Jove is my brother; 25 

Mine eyes are the lightning; 

The wheels of my chariot 

Roll in the thunder. 

The blows of my hammer 

Ring in the earthquake ! 30 

Force rules the world still, 

Has ruled it, shall rule it; 

Meekness is w^eakness. 

Strength is triumphant. 

Over the whole earth 35 

Still is it Thor's-Day ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 57 

Thou art a God too, 

0° Galilean! 

And thus single-handed 

Unto the combat, 40 

Gauntlet or Gospel, 

Here I defy thee ! 

II 

°KING OLAF'S return 

And King Olaf heard the cry, 
Saw the red light in the sky, 

Laid his hand upon his sword, 45 

As he leaned upon the railing. 
And his ships went sailing, sailing 

Northward into °Drontheim fiord. 

There he stood as one who dreamed ; 

And the red light glanced and gleamed 5° 

On the armor that he wore ; 
And he shouted, as the rifted 
Streamers o'er him shook and shifted, 

"I accept thy challenge, Thor !'' 

To avenge his father slain, 55 

And reconquer realm and reign, 



58 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Came the youthful Olaf home, 
Through the midnight saiUng, saiUng, 
Listening to the wild wind's wailing, 

And the dashing of the foam. 60 

To his thoughts the sacred name 
Of his mother Astrid came, 

And the tale she oft had told 
Of her flight by secret passes 
Through the mountains and morasses, 65 

To the home of °Hakon old. 

Then strange memories crowded back 
Of ° Queen Gunhild's wrath and wrack, 

°And a hurried flight by sea; 
Of grim Vikings, and their rapture 70 

In the sea-fight, and the capture. 

And the life of slavery. 

How a stranger watched his face 
In the Esthonian market-place, 

Scanned^ his features one by one, 75 

Saying, ''We should know each other; 
I am Sigurd, Astrid 's brother, 

Thou art Olaf, Astrid's son !'' 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 59 

Then as Queen Allogia's page, 

Old in honors, young in age, so 

Chief of all her men-at-arms ; 
Till vague whispers, and mysterious, 
Reached King Valdemar, the imperious, 

Filling him with strange alarms. 

Then his cruisings o'er the seas, 85 

Westward to the Hebrides, 

And to Scilly's rocky shore; 
And the hermit's cavern dismal, 
Christ's great name and rites baptismal, 

In the ocean's rush and roar. 9° 

All these thoughts of love and strife 
Glimmered through his lurid life, 

As the stars' intenser light 
Through the red flames o'er him trailing. 
As his ships went sailing, sailing, 95 

Northward in the summer night. 

Trained for either camp or court, 
Skilful in each manly sport, 

Young and beautiful and tall;, 
Art of warfare, craft of chases, 100 



60 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Swimming, skating, snow-shoe races, 
Excellent alike in all. 

When at sea, with all his rowers, 
He along the bending oars 

Outside of his ship could run. 105 

He the °Smalsor Horn ascended, 
And his shining shield suspended 

On its summit, like a sun. 

On the ship-rails he could stand, 

Wield his sword with either hand, no 

And at once two javelins throw; 
At all feasts where ale was strongest 
Sat the merry monarch longest, 

First to come and last to go. 

Norway never yet had seen 115 

One so beautiful of mien, 

One so royal in attire, 
When in arms completely furnished, 
Harness gold-inlaid and burnished. 

Mantle like a flame of fire. 120 

Thus came Olaf to his own. 
When upon the night-wind blown 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 61 

Passed that cry along the shore ; 
And he answered, while the rifted 
Streamers o'er him shook and shifted, 125 

'' I accept thy challenge, Thor ! " 



III 

°THORA OF RIMOL 

'' Thora of Rimol ! hide me ! hide me ! 

Danger and shame and death betide me ! 

For Olaf the King is hunting me down 

Through field and forest, through ° thorp and town ! " 130 

Thus cried Jarl Hakon 

To Thora, the fairest of women. 

'' Hakon Jarl ! for the love I bear thee 
Neither shall shame nor death come near thee ! 
But the hiding-place wherein thou must lie 135 

Is the cave underneath the swine in the sty." 

Thus to Jarl Hakon 

Said Thora, the fairest of women. 

So Hakon Jarl and his base thrall Karker 

Crouched in the cave, than a dungeon darker, 140 



62 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

As Olaf came riding, with men in mail, 
Through the forest roads into ° Orkadale, 

Demanding Jarl Hakon 

Of Thora, the fairest of women. 

''Rich and honored shall be whoever 145 

The head of Hakon Jarl shall dissever ! " 
Hakon heard him, and Karker the slave, 
Through the breathing-holes of the darksome cave. 

Alone in her chamber 

Wept Thora, the fairest of women. 150 

Said Karker, the crafty, ''I will not slay thee ! 
For all the king's gold I will never betray thee ! " 
''Then why dost thou turn so pale, O churl, 
And then again black as the earth?" said the Earl. 

More pale and more faithful 155 

Was Thora, the fairest of women. 

From a dream in the night the thrall started, saying, 
"Round my neck a gold ring King Olaf was laying !" 
And Hakon answered, " Beware of the king ! 
He will lay round th}^ neck a blood-red ring." 160 

At the ring on her finger 

Gazed Thora, the fairest of women. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 63 

At daybreak slept Hakon, with sorrows encumbered, 
But screamed and drew up his feet as he slumbered; 
The thrall in the darkness plunged with his knife, 165 
And the Earl awakened no more in this life. 

But wakeful and weeping 

Sat Thora, the fairest of women. 

At ° Nidarholm the priests are all singing, 
Two ghastly heads on the gibbet are swinging; 170 
One is Jarl Hakon's and one is his thrall's. 
And the people are shouting from windows and walls ; 
While alone in her chamber 
Swoons Thora, the fairest of women. 

IV 
° QUEEN SIGRID THE HAUGHTY 

Queen Sigrid the Haughty sat proud and aloft 175 
In her chamber, that looked over meadow and croft. 

Heart's dearest. 

Why dost thou sorrow so ? 

The floor with tassels of fir was besprent. 

Filling the room with their fragrant scent. 180 

She heard the birds sing, she saw the sun shine, 
The air of summer was sweeter l^han wine. 



64 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Like a sword without scabbard the bright river lay 
Between her own kingdom and Norroway. 

But Olaf the King had sued for her hand, 185 

The sword would be sheathed, the river be spanned. 

Her maidens were seated around her knee, 
Working bright figures in tapestry. 

And one w^as singing the ancient rune 

° Of Brynhilda'g love and the wrath of Gudrun. 190 

And through it, and round it, and over it all 
Sounded incessant the waterfall. 

The Queen in her hand held a ring of gold, 
From the door of Lade's Temple old. 

King Olaf had sent her this wedding gift, 195 

But her thoughts as arrows were keen and swift. 

She had given the ring to her goldsmiths twain. 
Who smiled, as they handed it back again. 

And Sigrid the Queen, in her haughty way. 

Said, '' Why do you smile, my goldsmiths, say?" 200 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 65 

And they answered : '' Queen ! if the truth must be 

told, 
The ring is of copper, and not of gold ! " 

The lightning flashed o'er her forehead and cheek, 
She only murmured, she did not speak: 

'' If in his gifts he can faithless be, 205 

There will be no gold in his love to me." 

A footstep was heard on the outer stair, 
And in strode King Olaf with royal air. 

He kissed the Queen's hand, and he whispered of love, 
And swore to be true as the stars are above. 210 

But she smiled with contempt as she answered: "O 

King, 
Will you swear it, as Odin once swore, on the ring?" 

And the King: '^O speak not of Odin to me. 
The wife of King Olaf a Christian must be." 

Looking straight at the King, with her level brows, 215 
She said, ''I keep true to my faith and my vows." 



66 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INK 

Then the face of King Olaf was darkened with gloom, 
He rose in his anger and strode through the room. 

" Why, then, should I care to have thee ? " he said, — 
" A faded old woman, a heathenish jade !" 220 

His zeal was stronger than fear or love. 

And he struck the Queen in the face with his glove. 

Then forth from the chamber in anger he fled, 
And the wooden stairway shook with his tread. 

Queen Sigrid the Haughty said under her breath, 225 
''This insult, King Olaf, shall be thy death !" 

Heart's dearest. 

Why dost thou sorrow so ? 



V 

°THE SKERRY OF SHRIEKS 

Now from all King Olaf 's farms 

His men-at-arms . 230 

Gathered at the Eve of Easter; 
To his house at ° Angvalds-ness 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 67 

Fast they press, 
Drinking with the royal feaster. 
Loudly through the wide-flung door 235 

Came the roar 
Of the sea upon the ° Skerry ; 
And its thunder loud and near 

Reached the ear, 
Mingling with their voices merry. 240 

'' Hark ! " said Olaf to his Scald, 

Halfred the Bald, 
" Listen to that song, and learn it ! 
Half my kingdom would I give. 

As I live, 245 

If by such songs you would earn it ! 

'' For of all the runes and rhymes 

Of all times, 
Best I like the ocean's dirges. 
When the old harper heaves and rocks, 250 

His hoary locks 
Flowing and flashing in the surges !" 

Halfred answered : " I am called 
The Unappalled ! 



68 TALES OF A WAYSIDE mS 

Nothing hinders me or daunts me. 255 

Hearken to me, then, O King, 

While I sing 
The great Ocean Song that haunts me." 

'' I will hear your song sublime 

Some other time," 260 

Says the drowsy monarch, yawning. 
And retires ; each laughing guest 

Applauds the jest; 
Then they sleep till day is dawning. 

Pacing up and down the yard, 265 

King Olaf's guard 
Saw the sea-mist slowly creeping 
O'er the sands, and up the hill, 

Gathering still 
Round the house where they were sleeping. 270 

It was not the fog he saw, 

Nor misty flaw. 
That above the landscape brooded; 
It was Eyvind Kallda's crew 

Of ° warlocks blue, 275 

With their caps of darkness hooded ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 69 

Round and round the house they go, 

Weaving slow 
Magic circles to encumber 
And imprison in their ring 280 

Olaf the King, 
As he helpless lies in slumber. 

Then athwart the vapors dun 

The Easter sun 
Streamed with one broad track of splendor ! 285 
In their real forms appeared 

The warlocks weird, 
Awful as the ° Witch of Endor. 

Blinded by the light that glared, 

They groped and stared 290 

Round about with steps unsteady; 
From his window Olaf gazed. 

And, amazed, 
"Who are these strange people?" said he. 

" Eyvind Kellda and his men ! " 295 

Answered then 
From the yard a sturdy farmer; 
While the men-at-arms apace 



70 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Filled the place, 
Busily buckling on their armor. 300 

From the gates they sallied forth, 

South and north, 
Scoured the island coast around them, 
Seizing all the warlock band, 

Foot and hand 305 

On the Skerry's rocks they bound them. 

And at eve the king again 

Called his train. 
And, with all the candles burning. 
Silent sat and heard once more 310 

The sullen roar 
Of the ocean tides returning. 

Shrieks and cries of wild despair 

Filled the air, 
Growing fainter as they listened ; 315 

Then the bursting surge alone 

Sounded on ; — 
Thus the sorcerers were christened ! 

'' Sing, O Scald, your song sublime, 

Your ocean-rhyme," 320 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 71 

Cried King Olaf : "it will cheer me !" 
Said the Scald, with pallid cheeks, 

"The Skerry of Shrieks 
Sings too loud for you to hear me !'* 



VI 
°THE WRAITH OF ODIN 

The guests were loud, the ale was strong, 325 
King Olaf feasted late and long; 
The hoary Scalds together sang; 
O'erhead the smoky rafters rang. 

Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

The door swung wide, with creak and din ; 330 
A blast of cold night-air came in. 
And on the threshold shivering stood 
A one-eyed guest, with cloak and hood. 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

The King exclaimed, "O graybeard pale ! 335 

Come warm thee with this cup of ale." 
The foaming draught the old man quaffed, 
The noisy guests looked on and laughed. 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 



TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Then spake the King : ''Be not afraid; 340 

Sit here by me." The guest obeyed, 
And, seated at the table, told 
Tales of the sea, and Sagas old. 

Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

And ever, when the tale was o'er 345 

The King demanded yet one more; 
Till Sigurd the Bishop smiling said, 
" 'Tis late, O King, and time for bed." 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

The King retired ; the stranger guest 350 

Followed and entered with the rest; 
The lights were out, the pages gone. 
But still the garrulous guest spake on. 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

As one who from a volume reads, 355 

He spake of heroes and their deeds, 
Of lands and cities he had seen, 
And stormy gulfs that tossed between. 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

Then from his lips in music rolled 360 

The °Havamal of Odin old, 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 73 

With sounds mysterious as the roar 
Of billows on a distant shore. 

Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

" Do we not learn from runes and rhymes 365 
Made by the gods in elder times, 
And do not still the great Scalds teach 
That silence better is than speech?" 

Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

Smiling at this, the King replied, 370 

"Thy lore is by thy tongue belied; 
For never was I so enthralled 
Either by Saga-man or Scald." 

Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

The Bishop said, " Late hours we keep ! 375 

Night wanes, O King ! 'tis time for sleep ! " 
Then slept the King, and when he woke 
The guest was gone, the morning broke. 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

They found the doors securely barred, 380 

They found the watch-dog in the yard, 
There was no footprint in the grass, 



74 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And none had seen the stranger pass. 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 

King Olaf crossed himself and said : 385 

''I know that Odin the Great is dead; 
Sure is the triumph of our Faith, 
The one-eyed stranger was his wraith." 
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang. 



VII 



° IRON-BEARD 



Olaf the King, one summer morn, 390 

Blew a blast on his bugle-horn. 
Sending his signal through the land of Drontheim. 

And to the °Hus-Ting held at °Mere 
Gathered the farmers far and near, 
With their war weapons ready to confront him. 395 

Ploughing under the morning star, 
Old Iron-Beard in ° Yriar 
Heard the summons, chuckhng with a low laugh. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 75 

He wiped the sweat-drops from his brow, 
Unharnessed his horses from the plough, 400 

And clattering came on horseback to King Olaf. 

He was the churliest of the churls ; 
Little he cared for king or earls : 
Bitter as home-brewed ale were his fuai_ Ing passions. 

° Hodden-gray was the garb he woro, 405 

And by the Hammer of Thor he swore ; 
He hated the narrow town, and all its fashions. 

But he loved the freedom of his farm, 
His ale at night, by the fireside warm, 
Gudrun his daughter, with her flaxen tresses. " 410 

He loved his horses and his herds, 
The smell of the earth, and the song of birds, 
His well-filled barns, his brook with its watercresses. 

Huge and cumbersome was his frame; 
His beard, from which he took his name, 415 

Frosty and fierce, hke that of ° Hymer the Giant. 

So at the Hus-Ting he appeared. 
The farmer of Yriar, Iron-Beard, 
On horseback, with an attitude defiant. 



76 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And to King Olaf he cried aloud, 420 

Out of the middle of the crowd, 
That tossed about hfm like a stormy ocean : 

''Such sacrifices shalt thou bring; 
To Odin and to Thor, O King, 
As other kings have done in their devotion ! " 425 

King Olaf answered : ''I command 
This land to be a Christian land ; 
Here is my Bishop who the folk baptizes ! 

" But if you ask me to restore 
Your sacrifices, stained with gore, 430 

Then will I offer human sacrifices ! 

'' Not slaves and peasants shall they be. 
But men of note and high degree, 
•Such men as Orm of Lyra and Kar of Gryting !" 

Then to their Temple strode he in, 435 

And loud behind him heard the din 
Of his men-at-arms and the peasants fiercely fighting. 

There in the Temple, carved in wood, 
The image of great Odin stood, 
And other gods, with Thor supreme among them. 440 



. THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 77 

King Olaf smote them with the blade 
Of his huge war-axe, gold inlaid, 
And downward shattered to the pavement flung 
them. 

At the same moment rose without, 
From the contending crowd, a shout, 445 

A mingled sound of triumph and of wailing. 

And there upon the trampled plain 
The farmer Iron-Beard lay slain, 
Midway between the assailed and the assailing. 

King Olaf from the doorway spoke : 450 

'^Choose ye between two things, my folk, 
To be baptized or given up to slaughter ! " 

And seeing their leader stark and dead, 
The people with a murmur said, 
"O King, baptize us with thy holy water !" 455 

So all the Drontheim land became 
A Christian land in name and fame. 
In the old gods no more believing and trusting. 



78 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And as a blood-atonement, soon 
King Olaf wed the fair Gudrun ; 460 

And thus in peace ended the Drontheim Hus-Ting ! 

VIII 
° GUDRUN 

On King Olaf's bridal night 
Shines the moon with tender light, 
And across the chamber streams 

Its tide of dreams. 465 

At the fatal midnight hour, 
When all evil things have power, 
In the glimmer of the moon 
Stands Gudrun. 

Close against her heaving breast, 47° 

Something in her hand is pressed ; 
Like an icicle, its sheen 
Is cold and keen. 

On the ° cairn are fixed her eyes 
Where her murdered father lies, 475 

And a voice remote and drear 
She seems to hear. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 79 

What a bridal night is this ! 
Cold will be the dagger's kiss; 
Laden with the chill of death 480 

Is its breath. 

Like the drifting snow she sweeps 
To the couch where Olaf sleeps ; 
Suddenly he wakes and stirs, 

His eyes meet hers. " 485 

"What is that," King Olaf said, 
" Gleams so bright above thy head ? 
Wherefore standest thou so white 
• In pale moonlight ? " 

" 'Tis the ° bodkin that I wear 490 

When at night I bind my hair; 
It woke me falling on the floor ; 
'Tis nothing more." 

''Forests have ears, and fields have eyes; 
Often treachery lurking lies 495 

Underneath the fairest hair ! 
Gudrun beware ! " 



500 



80 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Ere the earliest peep of morn 
Blew King Olaf's bugle-horn; 
And forever sundered ride 
Bridegroom and bride ! 

IX 
°THANGBRAND THE PRIEST 

Short of stature, large of limb, 
Burly face and russet beard, 
All the women stared at him, 

When in Iceland he appeared. 505 

''Look!" they said, 
With nodding head, 
''There goes Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest." 

All the prayers he knew by rote, 

He could preach- like •°Chrysostome, 510 

From the Fathers he could quote. 
He had even been at Rome. 
A learned clerk, 
A man of mark, 
Was this Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 515 

He was quarrelsome and loud. 
And impatient of control, 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 81 

Boisterous in the market crowd, 
Boisterous at the ° wassail-bowl, 

Everywhere 520 

Would drink and swear, 
Swaggering Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 

In his house this ° malecontent 

Could the King no longer bear. 
So to Iceland he was sent 525 

To convert the heathen there, 
And away 
One summer day 
Sailed this Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 

There in Iceland, o'er their books 530 

Pored the people day and night. 
But he did not like their looks. 
Nor the songs they used to write. 
" All this rhyme 

Is waste of time !" 535 - 

Grumbled Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 

To the alehouse, where he sat. 

Came the Scalds and Saga-men; 
Is it to be wondered at, 



82 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

That they quarrelled now and then, 540 

When o'er his beer 
Began to leer 
Drunken Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest? 

All thefolkin°Altafiord 

Boasted of their island grand ; 545 

Saying in a single word, 
"Iceland is the finest land 
That the sun 
Doth shine upon ! " 
Loud laughed Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 550 

And he answered : '' What's the use 

Of this bragging up and down, 
When three women and one goose 
Make a market in your town ! " 

Every Scald 555 

Satires scrawled 
On poor Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 

Something worse they did than that; 

And what vexed him most of all 
Was a figure in ° shovel hat, 56° 

Drawn in charcoal on the wall ; 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 83 

With words that go 
Sprawhng below, 
''This is Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest." 

Hardly knowing what he did, 565 

Then he smote them might and main, 
Thorvald Veile and Veterlid 
Lay there in the alehouse slain. 
''To-day we are gold, 
To-morrow mould ! " 570 

Muttered Thangbrand, Olaf s Priest. 

Much in fear of axe and rope. 

Back to Norway sailed he then. 
"O, King Olaf! httle hope 

Is there of these Iceland men !'' 575 

Meekly said. 
With bending head, 
Pious Thangbrand, Olaf's Priest. 

X 

°RAUD THE STRONG 

" All the old gods are dead, 

All the wild warlocks fled ; 580 



84 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

But the White Christ Uves and reigns, 
And throughout my wide domains 
His Gospel shall be spread !" 

On the Evangelists 

Thus swore King Olaf . 585 

But still in dreams of the night 

Beheld he the crimson light, 

And heard the voice that defied 

Him who was crucified. 

And challenged him to the fight. 590 

To Sigurd the Bishop 

King Olaf confessed it. 

And Sigurd the Bishop said, 

**The old gods are not dead. 

For the great Thor still reigns, 595 

And among the ° Jarls and Thanes 

The old witchcraft still is spread." 

Thus to King Olaf 

Said Sigurd the Bishop. 

" Far north in the ° Salten Fiord, 600 

By rapine, fire, and sword. 

Lives the ° Viking, Raud the Strong; 



Thji: SAGA OF KING OLAF 85 

All the ° Godoe Isles belong 
To him and his heathen horde." 

Thus went on speaking 605 

Sigurd the Bishop. 

" A warlock, a wizard is he, 

And lord of the wind and the sea; 

And whichever way he sails, 

He has ever favoring gales, 610 

By his craft in sorcery." 

Here the sign of the cross made 

Devoutly King Olaf. 

*' With rites that we both abhor, 

He worships Odin and Thor; 615 

So it cannot yet be said. 

That all the old gods are dead. 

And the warlocks are no more," 

Flushing with anger 

Said Sigurd the Bishop. 620 

Then King Olaf cried aloud : 
'' I will talk with this mighty Raud, 
And along the Salten Fiord 
Preach the Gospel with my sword, 



86 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Or be brought back in my shroud ! " 625 

So northward from Drontheim 
Sailed King Olaf ! 



XI 
° BISHOP SIGURD AT SALTEN FIORD 

Loud the angry wind was waiUng 
As King Olaf's ships came saiHng 
Northward out of Drontheim haven 630 

To the mouth of Sal ten Fiord. 

Though the flying sea-spray drenches 
Fore and aft the rowers' benches, 
Not a single heart is craven 

Of the champions there on board. 635 

All without the Fiord was quiet, 
But within it storm and riot, 
Such as on his Viking cruises 

Raud the Strong was wont to ride. 

°And the sea through all its tide-ways 640 

Swept the reeling vessels sideways, 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 87 

As the leaves are swept through sluices, 
When the flood-gates open wide. 

" 'Tis the warlock ! 'tis the demon 
Raud !" cried Sigurd to the seamen; 645 

" But the Lord is not affrighted 
By the witchcraft of his foes." 

To the ship's bow he ascended, 
By his choristers attended, 

Round him were the tapers lighted, 650 

And the sacred incense rose. 

On the bow stood Bishop Sigurd, 
In his robes, as one transfigured, 
And the Crucifix he planted 

High amid the rain and mist. 655 

Then with holy water sprinkled 
All the ship ; the mass-bells tinkled : 
Loud the monks around him chanted, 
Loud he read the Evangelist. 

As into the Fiord they darted, 660 

On each side the water parted; 



88 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Down a path like silver molten 

Steadily rowed King Olaf 's ships ; 

Steadily burned all night the tapers, 
And the White Christ through the vapors 665 
Gleamed across the Fiord of Salten, 
As through ° John's Apocalypse, — 

Till at last they reached Raud's dwelling 
On the little isle of Gelling; 
Not a guard was at the doorway, " 670 

Not a glimmer of light was seen. 

But at anchor, carved and gilded, 
Lay the dragon-ship he builded ; 
^Twas the grandest ship in Norway, 

With its crest and scales of green. 675 

Up the stairw^ay, softly creeping. 
To the loft where Raud was sleeping. 
With their fists they burst asunder 
Bolt and bar that held the door. 

Drunken with sleep and ale they found him, 680 
Dragged him from his bed and bound him, 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 89 

While he stared with stupid wonder, 
At the look and garb they wore. 

Then King Olaf said : " O Sea-King ! 
Little time have we for speaking, 685 

Choose between the good and evil ; 
Be baptized, or thou shalt die !" 

But in scorn the heathen scoffer 
Answered: '^ I disdain thine offer; 
Neither fear I God nor Devil; 690 

Thee and thy Gospel I defy ! '' 

Then between his jaws distended, 
When his frantic struggles ended. 
Through King Olaf's horn an adder. 

Touched by fire, they forced to glide. 695 

Sharp his tooth was as an arrow. 

As he gnawed through bone and marrow; 

But without a groan or shudder, 

Raud the Strong blaspheming died. 

Then baptized they all that region, 700 

Swarthy Lap and fair Norwegian, 



90 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Far as swims the salmon, leaping, 
Up the streams of Sal ten Fiord. 

In their temples Thor and Odin 

Lay in dust and ashes trodden, 705 

As King Olaf, onward sweeping, 

Preached the Gospel with his sword. 

Then he took the carved and gilded 
Dragon-ship that Raud had builded, 
And the tiller single-handed, 710 

Grasping, steered into the main. 

Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him, 
Southward sailed the ship that bore him, 
Till at Drontheim haven landed 

Olaf and his crew again. 715 



XII 
°KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS 

At Drontheim, Olaf the King 
Heard the bells of ° Yule-tide ring, 
As he sat in his banquet-hall, 
Drinking the nut-brown ale, 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 91 

With his bearded Berserks hale 720 

And tall. 

Three days his Yule-tide feasts 
He held with Bishops and Priests, 

And his horn filled up to the brim; 
But the ale was never too strong, 725 

Nor the Saga-man's tale too long, 

For him. 

O'er his drinking-horn, the sign 
He made of the cross divine, 

As he drank, and muttered his prayers; 730 
But the Berserks evermore 
Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor 

Over theirs. 

The gleams of the fire-light dance 

Upon helmet and hauberk and lance, 735 

And laugh in the eyes of the King; 
And he cries to Halfred the Scald, 
Gray-bearded, wrinkled, and bald, 

''Sing!" 

" Sing me a song divine, 740 

With a sword in every linfe, 



92 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And this shall be thy reward." 
And he loosened the belt at his waist, 
And in front of the singer placed 

His sword. 745 

''° Quern-biter of Habon the Good, 
Wherewith at a stroke he hewed. 

The millstone through and through. 
And ° Footbreadth of Thoralf the Strong, 
Were neither so broad nor so long, 750 

Nor so true." 

Then the Scald took his harp and sang, , 
And loud through the music rang 

The sound of that shining word ; 
And the harp-strings a clangor made, 755 

As if they were struck with the blade 

Of a sword. 

And the Berserks round about 
Broke forth into a shout 

That made the rafters ring : 760 

They smote with their fists on the board, 
And shouted, '' Long live the Sword, 

And the King'l " 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 93 

But the King said, "O my son, 

I miss the bright word in one 765 

Of thy measures and thy rhymes." 
And Half red the Scald replied, 
*' In another 'twas multiplied 

Three times." 

Then King Olaf raised the hilt 770 

Of iron, cross-shaped and gilt. 

And said, ''Do not refuse; 
Count well the gain and the loss, 
Thor's hammer or Christ's cross : 

Choose ! " 775 

And Halfred the Scald said, ''This 
In the name of the Lord I kiss. 

Who on it was crucified ! " 
And a shout went round the board, 
" In the name of Christ the Lord, 780 

Who died!" 

Then over the waste of snows 
The noonday sun uprose. 

Through the driving mists revealed, 
Like the lifting of the Host, 785 



94 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

By incense-clouds almost 
Concealed. 

On the shining wall a vast 
And shadowy cross was cast 

From the hilt of the lifted sword, 790 
And in foaming cups of ale 
The Berserks drank ''° Was-hael ! 

To the Lord!" 

XIII 
°THE BUILDING OF THE LONG SERPENT 

Thorberg Skafting, master-builder, 

In his ship-yard by the sea, 79s 

Whistled, saying, " 'Twould bewilder 

Any man but Thorberg Skafting, 
Any man but me ! " 

Near him lay the Dragon stranded. 

Built of old by Raud the Strong, 800 

And King Olaf had commanded 

He should build another Dragon, 
Twice as large and long. 

Therefore whistled Thorberg Skafting, 

As he sat with half-closed eyes, 805 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 95 

And his head turned sideways, drafting 
That new vessel for King Qlaf 
Twice the Dragon's size. 

Round him busily hewed and hammered 

Mallet huge and heavy axe : Sio 

Workmen laughed and sang and clamored ; 

Whirred the wheels, that into rigging 
Spun the shining flax ! 

All this tumult heard the master, — 

It was music to his ear ; 815 

Fancy whispered all the faster, 
''Men shall hear of Thorberg Skafting 
For a hundred year ! " 

Workmen sweating at the forges 

Fashioned iron bolt and bar, 820 

Like a warlock's midnight ° orgies 
Smoked and bubbled the black caldron 

With the boiling tar. 

Did the warlocks mingle in it, 

Thorberg Skafting, any curse ? 825 

Could you not be gone a minute 



96 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

But some mischief must be doing, 
Turning bad to worse ? 

'Twas an ill wind that came wafting, 

From his homestead words of woe; 830 

To his farm went Thorberg Skafting, 

Oft repeating to his workmen. 
Build ye thus and so. 

After long delays returning 

Came the master back by night; 835 

To his ship-yard longing, yearning, 
Hurried he, and did not leave it 

Till the morning's light. 

'' Come and see my ship, my darling ! " 

On the morrow said the King; 840 

"Finished now from °keel to carling; 

Never yet was seen in Norway 
Such a wondrous thing ! ^' 

In the ship-yard, idly talking, 

At the ship the workmen stared : 845 

Some one, all their labor balking, 
Down her sides had cut deep gashes, 

Not a plank was spared ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 97 

"Death be to the evil-doer !" 

With an oath King Olaf spoke ; 850 

" But rewards to his pursuer ! " 
And with wrath his face grew redder 

Than his scarlet cloak. 

Straight the master-builder, smiling, 

Answered thus the angry King : 855 

"Cease blaspheming and reviling, 

Olaf, it was Thorberg Skafting 
Who has done this thing !" 

Then he chipped and smoothed the planking, 
Till the King, delighted, swore, 860 

With much lauding and much thanking, • 

" Handsomer is now my Dragon 
Than she was before ! " 

Seventy °ells and four extended 

On the grass the vessel's keel; 865 

High above it, gilt and splendid. 
Rose the figure-head ferocious 

With its crest of steel. 

Then they launched her from the tressels, 

In the ship-yard by the sea ; 870 



98 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

She was the grandest of all vessels, 
Never ship was built in Norway 
Half so fine as she ! 

The Long Serpent was she christened, 

'Mid the roar of cheer on cheer ! 875 

They who to the Saga listened 
Heard the name of Thorberg Skafting 
For a hundred year ! 



XIV 
°THE CREW OF THE LONG SERPENT 

Safe at anchor in Drontheim bay 

King Olaf's fleet assembled lay, 880 

And, striped with white and blue, 
Downward fluttered sail and banner. 
As alights the screaming lanner; 
Lustily cheered, in their wild manner, 

The Long Serpent's crew. 885 

Her forecastle man was Ulf the Red ; 
Like a wolf's was his shaggy head. 
His teeth as large and white; 
His beard, of gray and russet blended. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 99 

Round as a swallow's nest descended ; 890 

As standard-bearer he defended 
Olaf s flag in the fight. 

Near him Kolbiorn had his place, 
Like the King in garb and face, 

So gallant and so hale; 895 

Every cabin-boy and varlet 
Wondered at his cloak of scarlet ; 
Like a river, frozen and star-lit. 

Gleamed his coat of mail. 

By the bulkhead, tall and dark, 900 

Stood Thrand Rame of Thelemark, 

A figure gaunt and grand ; 
On his hairy arm imprinted 
Was an anchor, azure-tinted ; 
Like Thor's hammer, huge and dinted 905 

Was his brawny hand. 

Einar Tamberskelver, bare 
To the winds his golden hair, 
By the mainmast stood; 
Graceful was his form, and slender, • 910 

And his eyes were deep and tender 



100 TALES OF A WAYSIDE /i\W 

As a woman's, in the splendor 
Of her maidenhood. 

In the fore-hold Biorn and Bork 

Watched the sailors at their work : 915 

Heavens ! how they swore ! 
Thirty men they each commanded, 
Iron-sinewed, horny-handed, 
Shoulders broad, and chests expanded, 

Tugging at the oar. 920 

These, and many more like these, 
With King Olaf sailed the seas. 

Till the waters vast 
Filled them with a vague devotion, 
With the freedom and the motion, 925 

With the roll and roar of ocean 

And the sounding blast. 

When they landed from the fleet. 

How they roared through Drontheim's street, 

Boisterous as the gale ! 93° 

How they laughed and stamped and pounded. 
Till the tavern roof resounded, 
And the host looked on astounded 

As they drank the ale ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 101 

Never saw the wild North Sea 935 

Such a gallant company 

Sail its billows blue ! 
Never, while they cruised and quarrelled, 
°01d King Gorm, or ° Blue-Tooth Harald, 
Owned a ship so well apparelled, 940 

Boasted such a crew ! 



XV 

°A LITTLE BIRD IN THE AIR 

A LITTLE bird in the air 
Is singing of Thyri the fair, 

The sister of Svend the Dane; 

And the song of the ° garrulous bird 945 

In the streets of the town is heard, 

And repeated again and again. 

Hoist up your sails of silk, 

And flee away from each other. 

To King Burislaf, it is said, 950 

Was the beautiful Thyri wed, 

And a sorrowful bride went she; 
And after a Week and a day. 
She has fled away and away, 



102 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

From his town by the stormy sea. 955 

Hoist up your sails of silk, 
And flee away from each other. 

They say, that through heat and through cold, 
Through ° weald, they say, and through °wold. 

By day and by night, they say, 960 

She has fled ; and the gossips report 
She has come to King Olaf's court, 
And the town is all in dismay. 
Hoist up your sails of silk. 
And flee away from each other. 965 

It is whispered King Olaf has seen. 
Has talked with the beautiful Queen ; 

And they wonder how it will end ; 
For surely, if here she remain. 
It is war with King Svend the Dane, 970 

And King Burislaf the Vend ! 
Hoist up your sails of silk, 
And flee away from each other. 

O, greatest wonder of all ! 

It is published in hamlet and hall, 975 

It roars like a flame that is fanned ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 103 

The King — yes, Olaf the King — 

Has wedded her with his ring, 
And Thyri is Queen in the land ! 

Hoist up your sails of silk, 980 

And flee away from each other. 

XVI 
QUEEN THYRI AND THE ANGELICA STALKS 

Northward over Drontheim, 
Flew the clamorous sea-gulls. 
Sang the lark and linnet 

From the meadows green; 985 

Weeping in her chamber, 
Lonely and unhappy. 
Sat the Drottning Thyri, 
Sat King Olaf's Queen. 

In at all the windows 990 

Streamed the pleasant sunshine, 
On the roof above her 
Softly cooed the dove; . 

But the sound she heard not, 

Nor the sunshine heeded, 995 



104 TALES OF A XVAYSIDE INN 

For the thoughts of Thyri 
Were not thoughts of love. 

Then King Olaf entered, 
Beautiful as morning, 
Like the sun at Easter 
Shone his happy face; 



lOOO 



In his hand he carried 
° Angelicas uprooted, 
With delicious fragrance 

Filling all the place. 1005 

Like a rainy midnight 
Sat the Drottning Thyri, 
Even the smile of Olaf 

Could not cheer her gloom; 

Nor the stalks he gave her loio 

With a gracious gesture. 
And with words as pleasant 
As their own perfume. 

In her hands he placed them. 
And her jewelled fingers 1015 

Through the green leaves glistened 
Like the dews of morn ; 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 105 

But she cast them from her, 
Haughty and indignant, 
On the floor she threw them 1020 

With a look of scorn. 

'^ Richer presents," said she, 
''Gave °King Harald Gormson 
To the Queen, my mother, 

Than such worthless weeds; 1025 

''When he ravaged Norway, 
Laying waste the kingdom, 
Seizing °scatt and treasure 
For her royal needs. 

" But thou darest not venture 1030 

Through the Sound to °Vendland, 
My domains to rescue 
From King Burislaf ; 

" Lest King Svend of Denmark, 
Forked Beard, my brother, 1035 

Scatter all thy vessels 
As the wind the chaff." 

Then up sprang King Olaf , 
Like a reindeer bounding, 



106 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

With an oath he answered 1040 

Thus the luckless Queen : 

"Never yet did Olaf 

Fear King Svend of Denmark ; 

This right hand shall hale him 

By his forked chin ! '^ 1045 

Then he left the chamber, 
Thundering through the doorway, 
Loud his steps resounded 
Down the outer stair. 

Smarting with the insult, 1050 

Through the streets of Drontheim 
Strode he red and wrathful, . 
With his stately air. 

All his ships he gathered. 
Summoned all his forces, io5j 

Making his war levy 
In the region round ; 

Down the coast of Norway, 
Like a flock of sea-gulls, 
Sailed the fleet of Olaf, 1060 

Through the Danish Sound. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 107 

With his own hand fearless, 
Steered he the Long Serpent, 
Strained the creaking cordage. 

Bent each boom and gaff; 1065 

Till in Vendland landing. 
The domains of Thyri 
He redeemed and rescued 
From King Burislaf. 

Then said Olaf, laughing, 1070 

- '' Not ten yoke of oxen 
Have the power to draw us 
Like a woman's hair ! 

" Now will I confess it. 
Better things are jewels 1075 

Than angelica stalks are 
For a Queen to wear." 

XVII 
KING SVEND OF THE FORKED BEARD 

Loudly the sailors cheered 

Svend of the Forked Beard, 

As with his fleet he steered 1080 



108 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Southward to Vendiand ; 
Where with their courses hauled 
All were together called, 
Under the ° Isle of Svald 

Near to the mainland. 1085 

After Queen Gunhild's death, 
So the old Saga saith, 
Plighted King Svend his faith 

To Sigrid the Haughty; 
And to avenge his bride, 1090 

Soothing her wounded pride, 
Over the waters wide 

King Olaf sought he. 

Still on her scornful face, 

Blushing with deep disgrace, 1095 

Bore she the crimson trace 

Of Olaf 's gauntlet ; 
Like a malignant star, 
Blazing in heaven afar, 
Red shone the angry scar noo 

Under her ° frontlet. 

Oft to King Svend she spake, 
" For thine own honor's sake 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 109 

Shalt thou swift vengeance take 

On the vile coward ! " 1105 

Until the King at last, 

Gusty and overcast, 

Like a tempestuous blast 
Threatened and lowered. 

Soon* as the Spring appeared, mo 

Svend of the Forked Beard 
High his red standard reared, 

Eager for battle ; 
While every warlike Dane, 
Seizing his arms again, ms 

Left all unsown the grain, 

Unhoused the cattle. 

Likewise the Swedish King 

Summoned in haste a Thing, 

Weapons and men to bring 1120 

In aid of Denmark; 
Eric the Norseman, too. 
As the war-tidings flew, 
Sailed with a chosen crew 

From ° Lapland and ° Finmark. 1125 

So upon Easter day 

Sailed the three kings away, 



110 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Out of the sheltered bay, 

In the bright season ; 
With them Earl Sigvald came, 1130 

Eager for spoil and fame; 
Pity that such a name 

Stooped to such treason ! 

Safe under Svald at last, 

Now were their anchors cast, 1135 

Safe from the sea and blast, 

Plotted the three kings ; 
While, with a base intent. 
Southward Earl Sigvald went. 
On a foul errand bent, 1140 

Unto the Sea-kings. 

Thence to hold on his coursQ, 
Unto King Olaf's force. 
Lying within the hoarse 

Mouths of °Stet-haven; 1145 

Him to ensnare and bring. 
Unto the Danish king. 
Who his dead corse would fling 

Forth to the raven ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 111 

XVIII 
°KING OLAF AND EARL SIGVALD 

On the gray sea-sands 1150 

King Olaf stands, 
Northward and seaward 
He points with his hands. 

With eddy and whirl 

The sea-tides curl, 1155 

Washing the sandals 

Of Sigvald the Earl. 

The mariners shout, 

The ships swing about, 

The yards are all hoisted, 1160 

The sails flutter out. 

The war-horns are played, 

The anchors are weighed, 

Like moths in the distance 

The sails flit and fade. 1165 

The sea is like lead, 
The harbor lies dead. 



112 TALES OF" A WAYSIDE mN 

As a corse on the sea-shore, 
Whose spirit has fled ! 

On that fatal day, 1170 

The histories say, 
Seventy vessels 
Sailed out of the bay. 

But soon scattered wide 

O'er the billows they ride, 1175 

While Sigvald and Olaf 

Sail side by side. 

Cried the Earl : " Follow me ! 

I your pilot will be, 

For I know all the channels nSo 

Where flows the deep sea ! " 

So into the strait 

Where his foes lie in wait, 

Gallant King Olaf 

Sails to his fate ! 1185 

Then the sea-fog veils 
The ships and their sails; 
Queen Sigrid the Haughty, 
Thy vengeance prevails ! 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 113 

XIX 
°KING OLAF's war-horns 

"Strike the sails !" King Olaf said; 1190 

" Never shall men of mine take flight; 
Never away from battle I fled, 
Never away from my foes ! 

Let God dispose 
Of my Hfe in the fight ! " 1195 

"Sound the horns !" said Olaf the King; 
And suddenly through the drifting ° brume 
The blare of the horns began to ring, 
Like the terrible trumpet shock 

Of ° Regnarock, 1200 

On the Day of Doom ! 

Louder and louder the war-horns sang 

Over the level floor of the flood ; 

All the sails came down with a clang, 

And there in the mist overhead 1205 

The sun hung red 
As a drop of blood. 

Drifting down on the Danish fleet 

Three together the ships were lashed. 

So that neither should turn and retreat; 1210 



114 TALES OF A WAYSIDE /iV^iV 

In the midst, but in front of the rest 

The burnished crest 
Of the Serpent flashed. 

King Olaf stood on the quarter-deck, 

With bow of ash and arrows of oak, 1215 

His gilded shield was without a fleck, 

His helmet inlaid with gold, 

And in many a fold 
Hung his crimson cloak. 

On the forecastle Ulf the Red 1220 

Watched the lashing of the ships; 
" If the Serpent lie so far ahead, 
We shall have hard work of it here," 

Said he with a sneer 
On his bearded lips. 1225 

King Olaf laid an arrow on string, 
" Have I a coward on board ?" said he. 
''Shoot it another way, O King !" 
Sullenly answered Ulf, - 

The old sea-wolf; 1230 

"You have need of me!" 

In front came Svend, the King of the Danes, 
Sweeping down with his fifty rowers; 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 115 

To the right, the Swedish king with his thanes ; 
And on board of the Iron Beard 1235 

Earl Eric steered 
On the left with his oars. 

*' These soft Danes and Swedes/' said the King, 
" At home with their wives had better stay. 
Than come within reach of my Serpent's sting : 
But where Eric the Norseman leads 1241 

Heroic deeds 
Will be done to-day ! " 

Then as together the vessels crashed, 
Eric severed the cables of hide, 1245 

With which King Olaf's ships were lashed, 
And left them to drive and drift 

With the currents swift 
Of the outward tide. 

Louder the war-horns growl and snarl, 1250 

Sharper the dragons bite and sting ! 
Eric the son of Hakon Jarl 
A death-drink salt as the sea 

Pledges to thee, 
Olaf the King ! 1255 



116 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 



XX 

°EINAR TAMBERSKELVER 

It was Einar Tamberskelver 

Stood beside the mast ; 
From his yew-bow, tipped with silver, 

Flew the arrows fast ; 
Aimed at Eric unavailing, 1260 

As he sat concealed, 
Half behind the quarter-railing, 

Half behind his shield. 

First an arrow struck the tiller, 

Just above his head ; 1265 

"Sing, O Eyvind ^Skaldaspiller,'" 

Then Earl Eric said. 
" Sing the song of Hakon dying, 

Sing his funeral wail ! " 
And another arrow flying 1270 

Grazed his coat of mail. 

Turning to a Lapland yeoman. 

As the arrow passed. 
Said Earl Eric, ''Shoot that bowman 

Standing by the mast." 1275 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 117 

Sooner than the word was spoken 

Flew the yeoman's shaft; 
Einar's bow in twain was broken, 

Einar only laughed. 

''What was that?" said Olaf, standing 1280 

On the quarter-deck. 
''Something heard I like the stranding 

Of a shattered wreck." 
Einar then, the arrow taking 

From the loosened string, 1285 

Answered, "That was Norway breaking 

From thy hand, O king ! " 

"Thou art but a poor diviner," 

Straightway Olaf said ; 
^' Take my bow, and swifter, Einar, 1290 

Let thy shafts be sped." 
Of his bows the fairest choosing, 

Reached he from above; 
Einar saw the blood-drops oozing 

Through his iron glove. 1295 

But the bow was thin and narrow; 
At the first ° assay, 



118 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

O'er its head he drew the arrow, 

Flung the bow away ; 
Said, with hot and angry temper 1300 

Flushing in his cheek, 
'^ Olaf ! for so great a °Kamper 

Are thy bows too weak ! " 

Then, with smile of joy defiant 

On his beardless lip, 1305 

Scaled he, light and self-reliant, 

Eric's dragon-ship. 
Loose his golden locks ,were flowing, 

Bright his armor gleamed ; 
°Like Saint Michael overthrowing 1310 

Lucifer he seemed. 

XXI 

°KING OLAF'S death-drink 

All day has the battle raged. 
All day have the ships engaged. 
But not yet is °assuaged 

The vengeance of Eric the Earl. 1315 

The decks with blood are red. 
The arrows of death are sped. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 119 

The ships are filled with the dead, 
And the spears the champions hurl. 

They drift as wrecks on the tide, 1320 

The grappling-irons are plied, 
The boarders climb up the side, 
The shouts are feeble and few. 

Ah ! never shall Norway again 
See her sailors come back o'er the main; 1325 

They all He wounded or slain. 
Or asleep in the billows blue ! 

On the deck stands Olaf the King, 
Around him whistle and sing 
The spears that the foemen fling, 1330 

And the stones they hurl with their hands. 

In the midst of the stones and the spears, 
Kolbiorn, the marshal, appears. 
His shield in the air he uprears, 

By the side of King Olaf he stands. 1335 

Over the slippery wreck 
Of the Long Serpent's deck 
Sweeps Eric with hardly a check, 
His lips with anger are pale; 



120 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

He hews with his axe at the mast, 1340 

Till it falls, with the sails overcast, 
Like a snow-covered pine in the vast 
Dim °forests of Orkadale. 

Seeking King Olaf then, 

He rushes aft with his men, 1345 

As a hunter into the den 

Of the bear, when he stands at bay. 

"Remember Jarl Hakon !" he cries; 
When lo ! on his wondering eyes, 
Two kingly figures arise, 1350 

Two Olafs in warlike array ! 

Then Kolbiorn speaks in the ear 
Of King Olaf a word of cheer. 
In a whisper that none may hear. 

With a smile on his tremulous lip ; 1355 

Two shields raised high in the air, 
Two flashes of golden hair. 
Two scarlet meteors' glare. 

And both have leaped from the ship. 

Earl Eric's men in the boats 1360 

Seize Kolbiorn's shield as it floats. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 121 

And cry, from their hairy throats, 
^'See! itisOlaf the King!" 

While far on the opposite side 
Floats another shield on the tide, 1365 

Like a jewel set in the wide 
Sea-current's eddying ring. 

There is told a wonderful tale, 
How the King stripped off his mail. 
Like leaves of the brown °sea-kale, 1370 

As he swam beneath the main; 

But the young grew old and gray, 
And never, by night or by day, 
In his kingdom of Norroway 

Was King Olaf seen again ! 1375 

XXII 
°THE NUN OF NIDAROS 

In the convent of Drontheim, 

Alone in her chamber 

Knelt Astrid the Abbess, 

At midnight, adoring. 

Beseeching, entreating 1380 

The Virgin and Mother. 



122 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

She heard in the silence 

The voice of one speaking, 

Without in the darkness, 

In gusts of the night-wind 1385 

Now louder, now nearer, 

Now lost in the distance. 

The voice of a stranger 

It seemed as she listened, 

Of some one who answered, 1390 

Beseeching, imploring, 

A cry from afar off 

She could not distinguish. 

The voice of Saint John, 

The beloved disciple, 1395 

Who wandered and waited 

The Master's appearance. 

Alone in the darkness. 

Unsheltered and friendless. 

" It is accepted 1400 

The angry defiance, 
The challenge of battle ! 
It is accepted. 



THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 123 

But not with the weapons 

Of war that thou wieldest ! 1405 

''Cross against corslet, 

Love against hatred, 

Peace-cry for war-cry ! 

Patience is powerful ; 

He that o'ercometh 1410 

Hath power o'er the nations ! 

" As torrents in summer, 

Half dried in their channels, 

Suddenly rise, though the 

Sky is still cloudless, 1415 

For rain has been falling 

Far off at their fountains; 

'' So hearts that are fainting 

Grow full to o'erflowing, 

And they that behold it 1420 

Marvel, and know not 

That God at their fountains 

Far off has been raining ! 

" Stronger than steel 

Is the sword of the Spirit ; 1425 



124 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Swifter than arrows 
The light of the truth is, 
Greater than anger 
Is love, and subdueth ! 

"Thou art a phantom, 1430 

A shape of the sea-mist, 

A shape of the brumal 

Rain, and the darkness 

Fearful and formless; 

Day dawns and thou art not ! 1435 

"The dawn is not distant, 

Nor is the night starless; 

Love is eternal ! 

God is still God, and 

His faith shall not fail us; 1440 

Christ is eternal ! '' 



INTERLUDE 

A STRAIN of music closed the tale, 
A low, monotonous, funeral wail. 
That with its cadence, wild and sweet, 
Made the long Saga more complete. 

''Thank God," the Theologian said, s 

" The reign of violence is dead. 

Or dying surely from the world ; 

While Love triumphant reigns instead, 

And in a brighter sky overhead 

His blessed banners are unfurled. lo 

And most of all thank God for this : 

The war and waste of clashing creeds 

Now end in words, and not in deeds. 

And no one suffers loss, or bleeds. 

For thoughts that men call heresies. * 15 

" I stand without here in the porch, 
I hear the bell's melodious din, 
I hear the organ peal within, 
125 



126 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

I hear the prayer, with words that scorch 

Like sparks from an inverted torch, 20 

I hear the sermon upon sin, 

With threatenings of the last account. 

And all, translated in the air. 

Reach me but as our dear Lord's Prayer, 

And as the Sermon on the Mount. 25 

"Must it be °Calvin, and not Christ? 

Must it be °Athanasian creeds. 

Or °holy water, books, and beads? 

Must struggling souls remain content 

With ° councils and decrees of Trent ? * 30 

And can it be enough for these 

The Christian Church the year embalms 

With evergreens and boughs of palms, 

And fills the air with °htanies? 

''I know that ° yonder Pharisee 35 

Thanks God that he is not like me; 

In my humiliation dressed, 

I only stand and beat my breast. 

And pray for human charity. 

'' °Not to one church alone, but seven, 40 

The voice prophetic spake from heaven; 



INTERLUDE 127 

And unto each the promise came, 

Diversified, but still the same; 

For him that overcometh are 

The new name written on the stone, 45 

The raiment white, the crown, the throne. 

And I will give him the Morning Star ! 

*' °Ah ! to how many Faith has been 

No evidence of things unseen. 

But a dim shadow, that recasts 50 

The ° creed of the Phantasiasts, 

For whom no Man of Sorrows died, 

For whom the Tragedy Divine 

Was but a symbol and a sign. 

And Christ a phantom crucified ! 55 

"For others a diviner creed 

Is living in the life they lead. 

The passing of their beautiful feet 

Blesses the pavement of the street, 

And all their looks and words repeat 60 

°01d Fuller's saying, wise and sweet. 

Not as a vulture, but a dove. 

The Holy Ghost came from above. 



128 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

" And this brings back to me a tale 

So sad the hearer well may quail, 65 

And question if such things can be; 

Yet in the chronicles of Spain 

Down the dark pages runs this stain, 

And naught can wash them white again, 

So fearful is the tragedy." 70 



°THE THEOLOGIAN'S TALE 

TORQUEMADA 

In the heroic days when ° Ferdinand 

And Isabella ruled the Spanish land, 

And Torquemada, with his subtle brain, 

Ruled them, as Grand Inquisitor of Spain, 

In a great castle near °Valladolid, 5 

°Moated and high and by fair woodlands hid, 

There dwelt, as from the chronicles we learn. 

An old ° Hidalgo proud and ° taciturn. 

Whose name has perished, with his towers of stone. 

And all his actions save this one alone; lo 

This one, so terrible, perhaps 'twere best 

If it, too, were forgotten with the rest; 

Unless, perchance, our eyes can see therein 

The martyrdom triumphant o'er the sin; 

A double picture, with its gloom and glow, 15 

The splendor overhead, the death below. 

This sombre man counted each day as lost 
On which his feet no sacred threshold crossed; 
K 129 



130 TALES OF A WAYSWE INN 

And when he chanced the passing Host to meet, 

He knelt and prayed devoutly in the street; 20 

Oft he confessed ; and with each mutinous thought, 

As with wild beasts at °Ephesus, he fought. 

In deep contrition scourged himself in ° Lent, 

Walked in processions, with his head down bent, 

At plays of ° Corpus Christi oft was seen, 25 

And on ° Palm Sunday bore his bough of green.. 

His only pastime was to hunt the boar 

Through tangled thickets of the forest hoar. 

Or with his jingling mules to hurry down 

To some grand bull-fight in the neighboring town, 30 

Or in the crowd with lighted taper stand, 

When Jews were burned, or banished from the land. 

Then stirred within him a tumultuous joy; 

The demon whose delight is to destroy 

Shook him, and shouted with a trumpet tone, 35 

" Kill ! kill ! and let the Lord find out his own !" 

And now, in that old castle in the wood. 
His daughters, in the dawn of womanhood, 
Returning from their convent school, had made 
Resplendent with their bloom the forest shade, 40 
Reminding him of their dead mother's face, 
When first she came into that gloomy place, — 



TORQUEMADA 131 

A memory in his heart as dim and sweet 

As moonlight in a soHtary street, 

Where the same rays, that Hft the sea, are thrown 

Lovely but powerless upon walls of stone. 46 

These two fair daughters of a mother dead 

Were all the dream had left him as it fled. 

A joy at first, and then a growing care. 

As if a voice within him cried, '^ Beware ! " 50 

A vague presentiment of impending doom. 

Like ghostly footsteps in a vacant room. 

Haunted him day and night ; a formless fear 

That death to some one of his house was near, 

With dark surmises of a hidden crime, 55 

Made Hfe itself a death before its time. 

Jealous, suspicious, with no sense of shame, 

A spy upon his daughters he became; 

With velvet slippers, noiseless on the floors, 

He glided softly through half-open doors; 60 

Now in the room, and now upon the stair. 

He stood beside them ere they were aware; 

He listened in the passage when they talked. 

He watched them from the casement when they 

walked. 
He saw the gypsy haunt the river's side, 65 

He saw the monk among the cork-trees glide; 



132 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And, tortured by the mystery and the doubt 

Of some dark secret, past his finding out, 

Baffled he paused ; then reassured again 

Pursued the flying phantom of his brain. 70 

He watched them even when they knelt in church; 

And then, descending lower in his search, 

Questioned the servants, and with eager eyes 

Listened incredulous to their replies ; 

The gypsy ? none had seen her in the wood ! 75 

The monk ? a mendicant in search of food ! 

At length the awful revelation came. 

Crushing at once his pride of birth and name, 

The hopes his yearning bosom forward cast, 

And the ancestral glories of the past ; 80 

All fell together, crumbling in disgrace, 

A turret rent from battlement to base. 

His daughters talking in the dead of night 
In their own chamber, and without a light, 
Listening, as he was wont, he overheard, 85 

And learned the dreadful secret, word by word; 
And hurrying from his castle, with a cry 
He raised his hands to the unpitying sky, 
Repeating one dread word, till bush and tree 
Caught it, and shuddering answered, ''Heresy !'' 90 



TORQUEMADA 133 

Wrapped in his cloak, his hat drawn o'er his face, 

Now hurrying forward, now with hngering pace, 

He walked all night the alleys of his park, 

With one unseen companion in the dark. 

The Demon who within him lay in wait, 95 

And by his presence turned his love to hate, 

Forever muttering in an undertone, 

" Kill ! kill ! and let the Lord find out his own ! " 

Upon the morrow, after early Mass, 

While yet the dew was glistening on the grass, 100 

And all the woods were musical with birds. 

The old Hidalgo, uttering fearful words, 

Walked homeward with the Priest, and in his room 

Summoned his trembling daughters to their doom. 

When questioned, with brief answers they replied, 105 

Nor when accused evaded or denied ; 

Expostulations, passionate appeals, 

All that the human heart most fears or feels. 

In vain the Priest with earnest voice essayed, 

In vain the father threatened, wept, and prayed ; no 

Until at last he said, with haughty mien, 

''The Holy Office, then, must intervene!" 

And now the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, 
With all the fifty horsemen of his train, 



134 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

His awful name resounding, like the blast 115 

Of funeral trumpets, as he onward passed, 

Came to Valladolid, and there began 

To harry the rich Jews with fire and ban. 

To him the Hidalgo went, and at the gate 

Demanded audience on affairs of state, 120 

And in a secret chamber stood before 

A venerable graybeard of fourscore, 

Dressed in the hood and habit of a friar; 

Out of his eyes flashed a consuming fire. 

And in his hand ° the mystic horn he held, 125 

Which poison and all noxious charms dispelled. 

He heard in silence the Hidalgo's tale. 

Then answered in a voice that made him quail : 

''Son of the Church ! °when Abraham of old 

To sacrifice his only son was told, 130 

He did not pause to parley nor protest, 

But hastened to obey the Lord's behest. 

In him it was accounted righteousness ; 

The Holy Church expects of thee no less ! '^ 

A sacred frenzy seized the father's brain, 135 

And Mercy from that hour implored in vain. 

Ah ! who will e'er believe the words I say ? 

His daughters he accused, and the same day 

They both were cast into the dungeon's gloom, 



TORQUEMADA 135 

That dismal antechamber of the tomb, 140 

Arraigned, condemned, and sentenced to the flame. 
The secret torture and the pubUc shame. 

Then to the Grand Inquisitor once more 

The Hidalgo went, more eager than before, 

And said: ''When Abraham offered up his son, 145 

He clave the wood wherewith it might be done. 

By his example taught, let me too bring 

Wood from the forest for my offering ! " 

And the deep voice, without a pause, replied : 

"Son of the Church ! by faith now justified, 150 

Complete thy sacrifice, even as thou wilt ; 

The Church absolves thy conscience from all guilt ! " 

Then this most wretched father went his way 

Into the woods, that round his castle lay, 

Where once his daughters in their childhood played 155 

With their young mother in the sun and shade. 

°Now all the leaves had fallen ; the branches bare 

Made a perpetual moaning in the air. 

And screaming from their eyries overhead 

The °ravens sailed athwart the sky of lead. 160 

With his own hands he lopped the boughs and 

bound 
Fagots, that crackled with foreboding sound, 



136 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And on his mules, caparisoned and gay 

With bells and tassels, sent them on their way. 

Then with his mind on one dark purpose bent, 165 

Again to the Inquisitor he went, 

And said : " Behold, the fagots I have brought, 

And now, lest my atonement be as naught, 

Grant me one more request, one last desire, — 

With my own hand to light the funeral fire ! " 170 

And Torquemada answered from his seat, 

"Son of the Church ! Thine offering is complete; 

Her servants through all ages shall not cease 

To magnify thy deed. Depart in peace ! " 

Upon the market-place, builded of stone 175 

The scaffold rose, whereon Death claimed his own. 
At the four corners, in stern attitude. 
Four statues of the Hebrew Prophets stood, 
Gazing with calm indifference in their eyes 
Upon this place of human sacrifice, 180 

Round which was gathering fast the eager crowd. 
With clamor of voices dissonant and loud, 
And every roof and window was alive 
With restless gazers, swarming like a hive. 
The church-bells tolled, the chant of monks drew 
near, 185 



TORQUEMADA 137 

Loud trumpets stammered forth their notes of fear, 

A Hne of torches smoked along the street, 

There was a stir, a rush, a tramp of feet. 

And, with its banners floating in the air, 

Slowly the long procession crossed the square, 190 

And, to the statues of the Prophets bound. 

The victims stood, with fagots piled around. 

Then all the air a blast of trumpets shook, 

And louder sang the monks with bell and book. 

And the Hidalgo, lofty, stern, and proud, 195 

Lifted his torch, and, bursting through the crowd. 

Lighted in haste the fagots, and then fled. 

Lest those imploring eyes should strike him dead ! 

O pitiless skies ! why did your clouds retain 

For peasants' fields their floods of hoarded rain ? 200 

O pitiless earth ! why opened no abyss 

To bury in its chasm a crime like this ? 

That night, a mingled column of fire and smoke 

From the dark thickets of the forest broke. 

And, glaring o'er the landscape leagues away, 205 

Made all the fields and hamlets bright as day. 

Wrapped in a sheet of flame the castle blazed, 

And as the villagers in terror gazed. 

They saw the figure of that cruel knight 



138 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Lean from a window in the turret's height, 210 

His ghastly face illumined with the glare, 
His hands upraised above his head in prayer, 
Till the floor sank beneath him, and he fell 
Down the black hollow of that burning well. 

Three centuries and more above his bones 215 

Have piled the oblivious years like funeral stones; 
His name has perished wdth him, and no trace 
Remains on earth of his afflicted race; 
But Torquemada's name, with clouds o'ercast, 
Looms in the distant landscape of the Past, 220 

Like a burnt tower upon a blackened heath. 
Lit by the fires of burning woods beneath ! 



INTERLUDE 

Thus closed the tale of guilt and gloom, 

That cast upon each listener's face 

Its shadow, and for some brief space 

Unbroken silence filled the room. 

The Jew was thoughtful and distressed ; 5 

Upon his memory thronged and pressed 

The persecution of his race, 

Their wrongs and sufferings and disgrace; 

His head was sunk upon his breast, 

And from his eyes alternate came 10 

Flashes of wrath and tears of shame. 

The student first the silence broke, 

As one who long has lain in wait, 

With purpose to retaliate. 

And thus he dealt the avenging stroke. 15 

'' In such a company as this, 

A tale so tragic seems amiss, 

That by its terrible control 

O'ermasters and drags down the soul 
139 



140 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Into a fathomless abyss. 20 

°The Italian Tales that you disdain, 

Some merry Night of °Straparole, 

Or °Machiavelli's Belphagor, 

Would cheer us and delight us more, 

Give greater pleasure and less pain 25 

Than your grim tragedies of Spain ! " 

And here the Poet raised his hand, 

With such entreaty and command, 

It stopped discussion at its birth, 

And said : '^ The story I shall tell 30 

Has meaning in it, if not mirth; 

Listen, and hear what once befell 

The merry birds of Killingworth ! " 



°THE POET'S TALE 

THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 

It was the season, when through all the land 
The ° merle and ° mavis build, and building sing 

Those lovely lyrics, written by °His hand. 

Whom ° Saxon Caedmon calls the Blithe-heart King; 

When on the boughs the purple buds expand, s 

The banners of the vanguard of the Spring, 

And rivulets, rejoicing, rush and leap. 

And wave their fluttering signals from the steep. 

The robin and the blue-bird, piping loud. 

Filled all the blossoming orchards with their glee ; lo 

°The sparrows chirped as if they still were proud 
Their race in Holy Writ should mentioned be ; 

And hungry crows assembled in a crowd, 
Clamored their piteous prayer incessantly, 

° Knowing who hears the ravens cry, and said: 15 

''Give us, O Lord, this day our daily bread !" 

Across the ° Sound the birds of passage sailed, 
Speaking some unknown language strange and 

sweet 

141 



142 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Of tropic isle remote, and passing hailed 

The village with the cheers of all their fleet ; 20 

Or quarrelling together, laughed and railed 

Like foreign sailors, landed in the street 
Of seaport town, and with outlandish noise 
Of oaths and gibberish frightening girls and boys. 

Thus came the ° jocund Spring in Killingworth, 25 
In fabulous days, some hundred years ago ; 

And thrifty farmers, as they tilled the earth, 
Heard with alarm the cawing of the crow, 

That mingled with the universal mirth, 

° Cassandra-like, ° prognosticating woe ; 30 

They shook their heads, and doomed with dreadful 
words 

To swift destruction the whole race of birds. 

And a town-meeting was convened straightway 

To set a price upon the guilty heads 
°0f these marauders, who, in lieu of pay, 35 

Levied black-mail upon the garden beds 
And corn-fields, and beheld without dismay 

The awful scarecrow, with his fluttering shreds; 
The skeleton that waited at their feast. 
Whereby their sinful pleasure was increased. 40 



THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 143 

Then from his house, a temple painted white, 
With ° fluted columns, and a roof of red, 

°The Squire came forth, august and splendid sight ! 
Slowly descending, with majestic tread, 

Three flights of steps, nor looking left nor right, 45 
Down the long street he walked, as one who said, 

"A town that boasts inhabitants like me 

Can have no lack of good society ! '' 

The Parson, too, appeared, a man austere. 

The instinct of whose nature was to kill ; 50 

The wrath of God he preached from year to year. 
And read, with fervor, ° Edwards on the Will; 

His favorite pastime was to slay the deer 
In Summer on some ° Adirondac hill ; 

E'en now, while walking down the rural lane, 55 

He lopped the wayside hlies with his cane. 

From the Academy, whose belfry crowned 
The hill of Science with its vane of brass. 

Came the Preceptor, gazing idly round. 

Now at the clouds, and now at the green grass, 60 

And all absorbed in reveries profound 
Of fair Almira in the upper class, 

Who was, as in a sonnet he had said, 

As pure as water, and as good as bread. 



144 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

And next the Deacon issued from his door, 65 

In his voluminous neck-cloth, white as snow; 

A suit of sable ° bombazine he wore; 

. His form was ponderous, and his step was slow; 

There never was so wise a man before ; 

He seemed the incarnate ''Well, I told you so !" 70 

And to perpetuate his great renown 

There was a street named after him in town. 

These came together in the new town-hall, 
With sundry farmers from the region round. 

The Squire presided, dignified and tall, 75 

His air impressive and his reasoning sound ; 

111 fared it with the birds, both great and small; 
Hardly a friend in all that crowd they found, 

But enemies enough, who every one 

Charged them with all the crimes beneath the sun. 80 

When they had ended, from his place apart, 
Rose the Preceptor, to redress the wrong. 

And, trembling like a steed before the start. 

Looked round bewildered on the expectant throng; 

Then thought of fair Almira, and took heart 85 

To speak out what was in him, clear and strong, 

Alike regardless of their smile or frown. 

And quite determined not to be laughed down. 



THE BIRDS OF iflLLINOWORTH 145 

"° Plato, anticipating the Reviewers, 

From his RepubHc banished without pity 90 

The Poets; in this httle town of yours, 

You put to death, by means of a Committee, 
The ballad-singers and the ° Troubadours, 

The street-musicians of the heavenly city, 
The birds, who make sweet music for us all 95 

In our dark hours, °as David did for Saul. 

'' The thrush that carols at the dawn of day 
From the green steeples of the piny wood; 

The oriole in the elm ; the noisy jay, 

Jargoning like a foreigner at his food ; 100 

The blue-bird balanced on some topmost spray. 
Flooding with melody the neighborhood ; 

Linnet and meadow-lark, and all the throng, 

That dwell in nests, and have the gift of song. 

" You slay them all ! and wherefore ? for the gain 105 
Of a scant handful more or less of wheat. 

Or rye, or barley, or some other grain. 

Scratched up at random by industrious feet. 

Searching for worm or weevil after rain ! 

Or a few cherries, that are not so sweet no 

As are the songs these uninvited guests 

Sing at their feasts with comfortable breasts. 



146 TALES OF I WAYSIDE INN 

''Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these? 

Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught 
The dialect they speak, where melodies ns 

Alone are the interpreters of thought ? 
Whose household words are songs in many keys, 

Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught ! 
Whose habitations in the tree-tops even 
Are half-way houses on the road to heaven ! 120 

" Think, every morning when the sun peeps through 
The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove. 

How jubilant the happy birds renew 
Their old, melodious °madrigals of love ! 

And when you think of this, remember too 125 

'Tis always morning somewhere, and above 

The awakening continents, from shore to shore, 

Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 

" Think of your woods and orchards without birds ! 

Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams 130 
As in an idiot's brain remembered words 

Hang empty 'mid the cobwebs of his dreams ! 
Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds 

Make up for the lost music, when your teams 
Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more 135 

The feathered gleaners follow to your door ? 



THE BIRDS OF KILLING WORTH 147 

'^ What ! would you rather see the incessant stir 
Of insects in the windrows of the hay, 

And hear the locust and the grasshopper 

Their melancholy, ° hurdy-gurdies play? 140 

Is this more pleasant to you than the whirr 
Of meadow-lark, and its sweet °roundelay, 

Or twitter of little ° field-fares, as you take 

Your nooning in the shade of bush and brake ? 

''You call them thieves and pillagers; but know 145 
They are the winged wardens of your farms, 

Who from the corn-fields drive the insidious foe, 
And from your harvests keep a hundred harms ; 

Even the blackest of them all, the crow, 

Renders good service as your man-at-arms, 150 

Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail. 

And crying havoc on the slug and snail. 

" How can I teach your children gentleness, 
And mercy to the weak, and reverence 

For Life, which, in its weakness or excess, 155 

Is still a gleam of God's omnipotence. 

Or Death, which, seeming darkness, is no less 
The selfsame light, although averted hence. 

When by your laws, your actions, and your speech. 

You contradict the very things I teach?" 160 



148 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

With this he closed ; and through the audience went 
A murmur, Hke the rustle of dead leaves; 

The farmers laughed and nodded, and some bent 
Their yellow heads together like their sheaves ; 

Men have no faith in fine-spun sentiment 165 

Who put their trust in bullocks and in beeves. 

The birds were doomed; and, as the record shows, 

A bounty offered for the heads of crows. 

There was another audience out of reach, 

Who had no voice nor vote in making laws, 170 

But in the papers read his little speech, 

And crowned his modest temples with applause; 

They made him conscious, each one more than each, 
He still was victor, vanquished in their cause. 

Sweetest of all the applause he won from thee, 175 

fair Almira at the Academy ! 

And so the dreadful massacre began; 

O'er fields and orchards, and o'er woodland crests. 
The ceaseless fusillade of terror ran. 

Dead fell the birds, with blood-stains on their 
brer-^t?, *i8o 

-r wounJei crept a^^-ay fr>\ 1 "'g ;t of m^n, 
While the young died of famine in their nests; 



THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 149 

A slaughter to be told in groans, not words, 
The very °St. Bartholomew of Birds ! 

The Summer came, and all the birds were dead; 185 
The days were like hot coals ; the very ground 

Was burned to ashes; in the orchards fed 
Myriads of caterpillars, and around 

The cultivated fields and garden beds 

Hosts of devouring insects crawled, and found 190 

No foe to check their march, till they had made 

The land a desert without leaf or shade. 

° Devoured by worms, like Herod, was the town, 

Because, like Herod, it had ruthlessly 
Slaughtered the Innocents. From the trees spun 
down 195 

The canker-worms upon the passers-by, 
Upon each woman's bonnet, shawl, and gown. 

Who shook them off with just a little cry ; 
Tiiey were the terror of each favorite walk. 
The endless theme of all the village talk. 200 



"to^ 



Tiie farmers grew impatient, but a few 

Confessed their error, and would not complain, 

For after all, the best thing one can do 
When it is raining, is to let it rain. 



150 TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN 

Then they repealed the law, although they knew 205 

It would not call the dead to life again ; 
As school-boys, finding their mistake too late, 
Drew a wet sponge across the accusing slate. 

That year in Killingworth the Autumn came 

Without the light of his majestic look, 210 

°The wonder of the falling tongues of flame. 
The illumined pages of his Doom's-Day book. 

A few lost leaves blushed crimson with their shame, 
And drowned themselves despairing in the brook, 

While the wild wind went moaning everywhere, 215 

Lamenting the dead children of the air ! 

But the next Spring a stranger sight was seen, 
A sight that never yet by bard was sung, 

As great a wonder as it would have been 

If some dumb animal had found a tongue ! 220 

A wagon, overarched with evergreen. 

Upon whose boughs were wicker cages hung, 

All full of singing birds, came down the street, 

Filling the air with music wild and sweet. 

From all the country round these birds were brought. 
By order of t^c town, with anxious quest, 226 



THE BIRDS OF KILLING WORTH 151 

And, loosened from their wicker prisons, sought 
In woods and fields the places they loved best, 

Singing loud ° canticles, which many thought 

Were satires to the authorities addressed, 230 

While others, listening in green lanes, averred 

Such lovely music never had been heard ! 

But blither still and louder carolled they 
Upon the morrow, for they seemed to know 

It was the fair Almira's wedding-day, 235 

And everywhere, around, above, below, 

When the Preceptor bore his bride away. 
Their songs burst forth in joyous overflow, 

And a new heaven bent over a new earth 

Amid the sunny farms of Killingworth. 240 



FINALE 

The hour was late; the fire burned low, 

The landlord's eyes were closed in sleep, 

And near the story's end a deep 

Sonorous sound at times was heard. 

As when the distant bagpipes blow. 5 

At this all laughed ; the Landlord stirred, 

As one awaking from a swound, 

And, gazing anxiously around, 

Protested that he had not slept, 

But only shut his eyes, and kept 10 

His ears attentive to each word. 

Then all arose, and said ''Good Night." 
Alone remained the drowsy Squire 
To rake the embers of the fire. 
And quench the waning parlor light; 15 

While from the windows, here and there, 
The scattered lamps a moment gleamed. 
And the illumined hostel seemed 
The constellation of the Bear, 
Downward, athwart the misty air, 20 

Sinking and setting toward the sun. 
Far off the village clock struck one. 

152 



NOTES 

PRELUDE 

THE WAYSIDE INN 

The Prelude serves as a general introduction to the tales that 
follow by introducing and characterizing the story-tellers and 
describing their place of meeting. The individuality of each 
person present should be carefully noted, so that as each tells 
his story his traits of character may be recalled. In connection 
with the study of the Prelude read the Prologue to Tenny- 
son's Princess, and the Hunting Dinner in Irving's I'ales of a 
Traveller. 

10. When men lived in a grander way. Many of the houses 
built in colonial times were very large. See Hawthorne's House 
of the Seven Gables, Chap. I. 

13. Hobgoblin Hall. A place frequented by ghosts. 

15. crazy doors. Doors that are rickety and broken. 

22. gleeds. Coals of fire, cinders (Archaic). 

32. The Red Horse prances on the sign. It was once cus- 
tomary to place some figure or device upon a sign board in 
front of an inn, the inn frequently deriving its name from it. 
Spp i\ TW\t with Sir Roger to the County Assizes" in 
D Coverley Papers, and 1. 20, Prologue, Chaucer's 
Canterbury I'ales. 

153 



154 NOTES [Pages 3-6 

63. The jovial rhymes, etc. The rhymes are as follows : — 

"What do you think? 
Here is good drink, 
Perhaps you may not know it ; 
If not in haste, 
Do stop and taste ! 
You merry folk will ^ow it." 

65. Major Molineaux. On a pane near the one containing 
the rhymes is written, William Molineaux jr. esq., June ^^, 1774. 
Hawthorne, in his story, 3Iy Kinsman, Major Molineaux, writes 
of a character by this name in a most interesting way. 

100. Of old Sir William and Sir Hugh. Ancestors of the 
landlord. 

104. gules. Red lines drawn vertically. 

105. chevron argent. A device, white in color, consisting of 
two bars meeting at an angle in the centre of the shield. 

107. Wyvern part-per-pale. A monster, part dragon, part 
serpent, cut through the middle by a perpendicular line. 

109. The scroll reads, "By the name of Howe." A motto is 
invariably included in a coat-of-arms, sometimes, as in this case, 
containing the family name. 

127. sumptuous tome. Costly volume. 

128. bedight. Adorned (rare). 

129. garmented in white. Bound in white. 

130. Florence, Pisa, Rome. Celebrated cities of Italy. 

133. hauberk. A shirt of mail made of small steel rings 
interwoven. 

135. And ladies ride with hawk on wrist. Falconry has 
been one of the favorite pastimes with the nobility of many 



pages^t] prelude 155 

lands for centuries. The hawk is carried upon the wrist pro- 
tected by a gauntlet. 

137-138. Magnified by the purple mist, etc. Explain. 

139. Charlemagne. Charles the Great (742-814), the most 
celebrated of the Frankish kings and emperor of Rome. He 
and his followers are the heroes of many mediseval romances. 

140. Merlin. A famous magician of King Arthur's court. 
See Merlin and Vivien, Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Mort 
d'Arthure. A cycle of romances on the life and death of King 
Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. 

142. Floras and Blanchefleur. The hero and heroine of an 
early French metrical romance ; also of Boccaccio's tale, // 
Filopoco ; and of The Franklin's Tale, Chaucer's Canterbury 
Tales. 

143. Sir Ferumbras. One of the chief followers of Charle- 
magne and hero of a French romance which bears his name. 
Sir Eglamour. A celebrated knight of King Arthur's Round 
Table. 

144. Launcelot. The chief of the Round Table knights. His 
wrong-doing had much to do with the downfall of King Arthur's 
kingdom. 

145. Sir Guy. Guy of Warwick, a legendary hero of early 
English romance. Sir Bevis, Sir Gawain. Renowned knights 
of the Round Table. 

151. Palermo's fatal siege. In 1848 the inhabitants of Sicily 
rose in revolt ag^ainst their Bourbon rulers, the people of Palermo, 
the chief city of the island, taking a leading part. The next 
year the city was bombarded and reduced, the revolutionists 
retiring to the interior. See note on 1. 188, The Sicilian's Tale. 

153. King Bomba's happy reign. The reign of Ferdinand II, 



156 NOTES [Pages 7-8 

who ruled Sicily at the time of the revolt of 1848-1849, and who 
was given the nickname of " Bomba" because of his bombard- 
ment of the revolting cities, was in the main one of peace and 
prosperity. 

166. Immortal Four. Dante (1265-1321), Petrarch (1304- 
1374), Ariosto (1474-1533), Tasso (1544-1595). 

168. The story-telling bard of prose. Boccaccio (1313-1375) , 
a famous Italian poet and novelist. His chief work is the 
Decamero7i. See introductory note to The Student's Tale. 

169. Tuscan tales. Tales of Tuscany, a province or division 
of western Italy. Florence is situated in the northern part. 

170. Decameron. See introductory note to The Student's 
Tale. 

171. Fiesole's green hills, etc. Fiesole is a small village a 
short distance north of Florence. It was near here that the 
story-tellers of the Decameron sought refuge from the plague. 
See introductory note to The Student's Tale. 

180. Bucolic songs. Songs relating to the life and occupation 
of shepherds. Meli. A Sicilian poet (1740-1815) whose works 
include odes, pastorals, and sonnets. 

184. Theocritus of Syracuse. Theocritus, a celebrated Greek 
poet of the second century before Christ, was born at Syracuse, 
Sicily, where he spent much of his life. His works are largely 
pastoral in nature. 

185. Alicant. A seaport in the southern part of Spain. 

188. Levant. East. Specifically the countries of Turkey, 
Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt, and others which are washed 
by the eastern part of the Mediterranean and adjoining 
waters. 

189. Patriarch. A term applied to the father and ruler of a 



Pages 9-11] PRELUDE 157 

family in Biblical history before the time of Moses, and later to 
dignitaries of the church. 

199. Moluccas. A group of islands belonging to the Malay 
Archipelago ; noted for its production of spices. 

200. Celebes. A large island belonging to the East Indies, 
which lies west of the Moluccas group. 

204. The Parables of Sandabar. A mediaeval collection of 
stories written in Hebrew ; known as the Mishle Sandabar. 

205. the Fables of Pilpay. A collection of fables written in 
Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Hindoos. 

208. Talmud. See introductory note to The Spanish Jew's 
Tale. Targum. The name applied to the translations made 
of the Old Testament by the Chaldeans. 

209. Kabala. The mystic philosophy of the Jewish religion, 
claimed to have been delivered by revelation, and transmitted 
by oral tradition, serving for the interpretation of the hidden 
sense of the Scripture. 

213. sackbut. A brass wind instrument, like a trumpet, so 
made that it can be shortened or lengthened according to the 
tone required ; said to be the same as the trombone. 

215-216. from the school, etc. Harvard University. 

238. For music in some neighboring street. Explain. 

240. The laurels of Miltiades. Miltiades was a famous Athe- 
nian general. He commanded the Greeks at the battle of Mara- 
thon, in which the Persians were overwhelmed, and as a result 
was hailed as the savior of his country. 

253. The Angel with the violin. In the centre of the cele- 
brated fresco, Poetry, or Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus, 
designed by Raphael for the Vatican, is the figure of Apollo, 
who is represented as playing on a violin. 



158 , NOTES [Pages 11-14 

259. Stromkarl. Genius of the water. 

269. Elivagar's river. A river of Norse mytliology, said to 
take its rise in the spring Hvergelmer, which is located in the 
region of everlasting night and endless cold. 

272. Cremona's workshops. Cremona is a province in the 
northern part of Italy, which is noted for the manufacture of 
violins and other stringed instruments. 

276. Tyrolian forests. Tyrol is a heavily wooded province 
in the western part of Austria-Hungary. 

284. Antonius Stradivarius. The greatest violin maker the 
world has ever had (1644-1737). His best violins were made 
between the years of 1700 and 1725. 

THE LANDLOED'S TALE 
PAUL KEVERE'S RIDE 

The incident upon which this poem is based — the famous 
ride of Paul Revere — is one of the favorite stories in American 
history. The ride took place on the night of April 18, 1775, 
the circumstances attending it being as follows : When the 
trouble which resulted in the Revolutionary War broke out 
between England and the colonists, a secret organization was 
formed at Boston and vicinity to watch the movements of the 
British officials. At first John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and 
Joseph Warren were the leaders of the society, but when Adams 
and Hancock left the city, Paul Revere and William Dawes 
became Warren's confidants. 

As the trouble grew more and more serious, the colonists 
concluded that war was inevitable, and began to prepare for 



Page 14] THE LANDLORD'S TALE 159 

it by collecting military stores at various places around Boston. 
At first the British officials gave but little attention to this act 
of hostility, but when the Americans sent word to them that 
any advance on their part to capture or destroy the stores would 
be regarded as a declaration of war, and would be met with 
open resistance, they decided that the time had come for them 
to act. Accordingly they laid plans to secretly despatch a force 
of eight hundred men to Concord to take possession of the sup- 
plies gathered there. 

But despite their secrecy, Warren learned of their proposed 
raid at an early moment, and at once summoned Revere and 
Dawes to his assistance. Anticipating such a movement. Revere 
had arranged signals with friends in Charlestown by means of 
which he could inform them of the British plans, the signals 
being lights to be placed in the tower of the North Church, one 
if the troojfs went out by land and two if by water. As quickly 
as he learned of their proposed route, he sent a companion to 
display the lights, while he, with Dawes, made ready to spread 
the alarm. Rowing to Charlestown, he found a horse waithig 
for him, and avoiding the British sentinels, started for Lexing- 
ton. As he passed through Medford, he aroused the people 
with a cry of " Up and arm ! The regulars are out ! " A little 
later he reached Lexington, where he found Adams and Han- 
cock, and having given the alarm, started for Concord in com- 
pany with Dawes and young Prescott, who had joined him 
there. A little way out of the village, however, he was stopped 
by a British patrol. But his mission was already accomplished. 
The alarm was spread far and wide by those whom he had 
aroused, and when the British advanced, it was to find the 
colonists prepared to meet them. 



160 NOTES [Pages 14-19 

In connection with the study of the poem, read Browning's 
How They brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix and 
Read's Sheridan'' s Bide. 

9. North Church. The "Old North Church," or Christ 
Church, is one of the oldest and most impressive buildings 
in Boston. • It was built in 1723, and still stands with very few 
signs of decay. Embedded in the masonry of the tower is a 
tablet bearing this inscription : — 

The Signal Lanterns of 

Paul Kevere, 

Displayed in the Steeple of this Church, 

April 18, 1775, 

Warned the Country of the March 

of the British Troops 

to Lexington and Concord, 

10. Middlesex. The county in the northeastern part of Mas- 
sachusetts in which Charlestown, Medford, Lexington, and 
Concord are situated. 

16. Charlestown shore. North of Boston, across the Charles 
River. 

29. grenadiers. Members of a regiment or corps composed 
of men of great stature, whose bravery was unquestioned. 

83. Mystic. A river in the northeastern part of Massachu- 
setts, flowing southeast into Boston Harbor. Revere's route 
lay along its south bank. 

102, the bridge in Concord town. It was at this place that 
the Americans made their first determined stand against the 
British. 



Pages 19-21] INTERLUDE 161 

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
Here once the embattled farmers stood 
And fired the shot heard round the world." 

— Emerson, Concord Hymn. 

INTERLUDE 

10. Joyeuse. The sword of Charlemagne. See note on 1. 139, 
Prelude. Colada. The sword of the Cid (1040-1099), the na- 
tional hero of Spain, famous for his deeds of bravery in the 
wars with the Moors. Durindale. The sword of Roland, a 
hero of Charlemagne's army who was slain at the battle of 
Roncevalles in 778. According to legend, he came into pos- 
session of the sword by defeating the giant Jutmundus. 

11. Excalibar. The sword of King Arthur, a British chief- 
tain of the sixth century and hero of the Round Table romances. 
Legend has it that he was presented the sword by a sorceress 
known as the Lady of the Lake. 

" And near him stood the Lady of the Lake 
Who knows a subtler magic than his own — 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful. 
She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword, 
Whereby to drive the heathen out." 

— Tennyson, Coming of Arthur, 11. 282-286. 

Aroundight. The sword of Lancelot of the Lake. See note on 
1. 144, Prelude. 

21. an iron pot. A helmet. 

23 escutcheon. A surface, usually a shield, upon which is 
blazoned a coat-of-arms. 

M 



162 J^OTES [Pages 21-23 

37. emprise. Enterprise, adventure (poetical). 

38. Ariosto. A celebrated Italian poet (1474-1533), author 
of Orlando Furioso", a metrical romance, and a number of 
dramas. 

49-50. Palmieri's garden . . . Fiametta. See introductory- 
note to The Student's Tale. 

THE STUDENT'S TALE 
THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO 

The plot of this story is drawn from the Decameron (see 
p. xxvii, Introduction) , the masterpiece of Boccaccio, an Italian 
writer of the fourteenth century. The Decameron is made up 
of a series of short stories, one hundred in number, represented 
as having been told by a party of ten persons, who had fled 
from plague-stricken Florence, and taken refuge at a country 
residence a few miles away. To promote order, each member 
of the party was called upon in turn to act as leader for the 
period of a day, the insignia of office being a laurel crown. 
Story-telling at once became the favorite pastime, each person 
contributing one tale each day. " The Falcon of Ser Federigo " 
was told on the fifth day by Fiametta, who was ruler at the 
time. Following is the story as she told it : — 

"At Florence dwelt a young gentleman named Federigo, 
who, in feats of arms and gentility, surpassed all the youth in 
Tuscany. This gentleman was in love with a lady called Monna 
Giovanna, one of the most agreeable women in Florence, 
and to gain her affection, he was continually making tilts, balls, 
and such diversions ; lavishing away his money in rich presents, 



Page 23]- THE STUDENT^ S TALE 163 

and everything that was extravagant. But she made no account 
either of what he did for her sake, or of himself. 

"As Federigo continued to live in this manner, spending 
profusely, and acquiring nothing, his wealth soon began to 
waste, till at last he had nothing left but a very small farm, the 
income of which was a most slender maintenance, and a single 
hawk, one of the best in the world. Yet loving still more than 
ever, and finding he could subsist no longer in the city in the 
manner he would choose to live, he retired to his farm, where 
he went out fowling, as often as the weather would permit, and 
bore his distress patiently, without ever making his necessity 
known to anybody. Now it happened that the lady's husband 
fell sick, and being very rich, he made a will by which he left 
all his substance to an only son, and if he should die without 
issue, he then ordered that it should revert to his lady, whom 
he was extremely fond of ; and when he had disposed thus 
of his fortune, he died. Monna Giovanna, now being left a 
widow, retired to a house of hers in the country, near to that 
of Federigo: whence it happened that her son soon became 
acquainted with him, and they used to divert themselves together 
with dogs and hawks; and the boy, having often seen Feder- 
igo' s hawk fly, and being strangely taken with it, was desir- 
ous of having it, though the other valued it to that degree that 
he knew not how to ask for it. 

" This being so, the boy soon fell sick, which gave his mother 
great concern, as he was her only child, and she ceased not to 
attend on and comfort him ; often requesting, if there was any 
particular thing which he fancied, to let her know it, and prom- 
ising to procure it for him if it was possible. The young gen- 
tleman, after many offers of this kind, at last said, ' Madam, 



164 nOTES [Page 23 

if you could contrive for me to have Federigo's haw^k, I should 
soon be well.' She was in some perplexity at this, and began 
to consider how best to act. She knew that Federigo had long 
entertained a liking for her, without the least encouragement 
on her part ; therefore she said to herself, ' How can I send or 
go to ask for this hawk, which, I hear, is the very best of the 
kind, and which is all he has in the world to maintain him ? 
Or how can I offer to take away from a gentleman all the 
pleasure that he has in life ?' Being in this perplexity, 
though she was very sure of having it for a word, she stood 
without making any reply ; till at last the love of her son so 
far prevailed, that she resolved at all events to make him easy, 
and not send, but go herself. She then replied, ' Set your 
heart at rest, my boy, and think only of your recovery ; for I 
promise you that I will go to-morrow for it the first thing I do.' 
This afforded him such joy, that he immediately showed signs 
of amendment. 

" The next morning she went, by way of a walk, with another 
lady in company, to Federigo's little cottage to inquire for him. 
At that time, as it was too early to go out upon his diversion, 
he was at work in his garden. Hearing, therefore, that his 
mistress inquired for him at the door, he ran thither, surprised 
and full of joy, whilst she, with a great deal of complaisance, 
went to meet him ; and, after the usual compliments, she said, 
' Good morning to you, sir ; I am come to make you some 
amends for the losses you have sustained on my account, what I 
mean is, that I have brought a companion to take a neighborly 
dinner with you to-day.' He replied, with a great deal of 
humility, 'Madam, I do not remember ever to have suffered 
any loss by your means, but rather so much good, that if I was 



Page 23] THE STUDENT'S TALE 165 

worth anything at any time it was due to your singular merit, 
and the love I had for you ; and most assuredly this courteous 
visit is more welcome to me than if I had all that I have wasted 
returned to me to spend over again ; but you are come to a very 
poor host.' With these words he showed her into his house, 
seeming much out of countenance, and thence they went into 
the garden, where, having no company for her, he said, ' Madam, 
as I have nobody else, please to admit this honest woman, 
a laborer's wife, to be with you, whilst I set forth the table.' 

"Although his poverty was extreme, never till now had he 
been so sensible of his past extravagance; but finding nothing 
to entertain the lady with, for whose sake he had treated thou- 
sands, he was in the utmost perplexity, cursing his evil fortune, 
and running up and down like one out of his wits. At length, 
having neither money nor anything he could pawn, and longing 
to give her something, at the same time that he would not make 
his case known, even so much as to his own laborer, he espied 
his hawk upon the perch, seized it, and finding it very fat, judged 
it might make a dish not unworthy of such a lady. Without 
further thought, then, he wrung its head off, and gave it to a 
girl to dress and roast carefully, whilst he laid the cloth, having 
a small quantity of linen left ; and then he returned, with a smile 
on his countenance, into the garden to tell Monna Giovanna 
that what little dinner he was able to provide was now ready. 
She and her friend, therefore, entered and sat down with him, 
he serving them all the time with great respect, when they ate 
the good hawk, not knowing what it was. 

"After dinner was over, and they sat chatting a little while 
together, the lady thought it a fit time to tell her errand, and 
addressed him courteously in this manner : ' Sir, if you call to 



166 NOTES [Page 23 

mind your past life, and my resolution, which perhaps you may 
call cruelty, I doubt not but you will wonder at my presumption 
when you know what I am come for ; but if you had children of 
your own, to know how strong our natural affection is toward 
them, I am very sure you would excuse me. Now, my having 
a son forces me, against my own inclination, and all reason 
whatsoever, to request a thing of you, which 1 know you value 
extremely, as you have no other comfort or diversion left you 
in your small circumstances ; I mean your hawk, which he has 
taken such a fancy to, that unless I bring it back with me I 
very much fear that he will die of his disorder. Therefore I 
entreat you, not for any regard you have for me, but for that 
generosity with which you have always distinguished yourself, 
that you would please to let me have it, so that I may be able to 
say that my child's life has been restored to me through your 
gift, and that he and I are under perpetual obligations to you.' 
" Federigo, hearing the lady's request, and knowing that it 
was out of his power to fulfil it, began to weep before he was 
able to make a word of reply. This she at first attributed to 
his reluctance to part with his favorite bird, and expected that 
he was going to give her a flat denial ; but after she had waited 
a little for his answer, he said : ' Madam, ever since I have fixed 
my affections upon you, fortune has still been contrary to me in 
many things, and sorely have I felt them ; but all the rest is noth- 
ing to what has now come to pass. You are here to visit me 
in this my poor dwelling, to which in my prosperity you would 
never deign to come ; you also entreat a small present of me, 
which it is wholly out of my power to give, as I am going briefly 
to tell you. As soon as I was acquainted with the great favor 
you designed me, I thought it proper, considering your superior 



Page 23] THE STUDENT'S TALE 167 

merit and excellency, to treat you, according to my ability with 
something choicer than is usually given to other persons, when, 
calling to mind my hawk, which you now request, and his good- 
ness, I judged him a fit repast for you, and you have had him 
roasted. Nor could I have thought him better -bestowed, had 
you not now desired him in a different manner, which is such a 
grief to me, that I shall never be at peace as long as I live.' And 
saying this, he produced the hawk's feathers, feet, and talons. 
The lady began now to blame him for killing such a bird to 
entertain any woman with, in her heart all the while extolling 
the greatness of his soul, which poverty had no power to abase. 
" Having now no farther hopes of obtaining the hawk, she 
took leave of Federigo, and returned sadly to her son ; who, 
either out of grief for the disappointment, or through the vio- 
lence of his disorder, died in a few days. She continued sorrow- 
ful for some time ; but being left rich, and young, her brothers 
were very pressing with her to marry again. This went against 
her inclination, but finding them still importunate, and remem- 
bering Federigo's great worth, and the late instance of his gen- 
erosity in killing such a bird for her entertainment, she said, 
' I should rather choose to continue as I am ; but since it is 
your desire that I take a husband, I will have none but Federigo.' 
They smiled contemptuously at this, and said, 'You simple 
woman ! what are you talking of ? He is not worth one farthing 
in the world.' She replied, * I believe it, brothers, to be as you 
say ; but know, that I would sooner have a man that stands in 
need of riches, than riches without a man.' They hearing her 
resolution, and well knowing his generous temper, gave her to 
him with all her wealth ; and he, seeing himself possessed of a 
lady whom he had so dearly loved, and of such a vast fortune, 



168 NOTES [Pages 23-27 

lived in all true happiness with her, and was a better manager 
of his affairs than he had been before." 

8. Arno. A river in the northwestern part of Italy. It 
rises in the Apennines and flows west into the Mediterranean; 
length, 140 miles. 

10. Florence. A city in the northwestern part of Italy on 
the Arno Eiver. 

16. Monna Giovanna. The heroine of the story. See intro- 
ductory note to the poem. 

31. Purveyor. One who provides food. 

44. Tinkled his bells. Falcons are trained to wear bands of 
leather about their legs to which bells are attached. 

60. aeolian harp. A musical instrument consisting of a frame- 
work, on or in which are stretched strings, on which the wind 
acts to produce notes. It was named after JEolus, the mytho- 
logical deity of the winds. 

85. sacred ilex. The holm oak. A genus of evergreen trees 
and shrubs including the common holly. It is much used for 
decorating churches and houses at Christmas time, centennial 
pines. Pines of great age. 

86. terraced gardens. Gardens consisting of elevated flat 
spaces faced on one or more sides with masonry or turf. 

87. sylvan deities. Fabled deities of the wood. Here their 
images carved in stone. 

88. palpitating. Throbbing or quivering. 

89. Val d' Arno. Valley of the Arno (Italian). 

103. gerfalcon. A large falcon whose original home was in 
the mountains of Scandinavia. It is one of the largest of its 
race, and has always been highly prized by falconers. 

111. passing-bell. The bell that rings at the hour of death, 



Pages 27-;52] THE STUDENT'S TALE 169 

or at the time when the body of a deceased person is being 
carried to a place of interment. 

113. preternatural. Strange and inexplicable. 

121. importunate. Solicitous. 

131. pursuivant. Attendant, follower. 

148-149. the mists that roll, etc. Study this figure carefully. 
Is it an apt one ? 

152. auroral. Resembling the dawn in color and beauty. 

162. His long-lost Eden was restored again. Explain this 
line. 

165. the Euphrates watering Paradise. The Euphrates is 
a large river in the western part of Asia. It is formed by the 
junction of the Moorad Chai and Kara-Soo, flows southwest, 
then southeast, and empties into the Persian Gulf ; length, 1780 
miles. According to the Bible it was one of the four rivers that 
watered the Garden of Eden or Paradise. See Genesis ii. 10-14. 

194. Signer. An Italian title of respect for a man ; con- 
tracted from Signore. 

202. lure. A contrivance somewhat resembling a bird, and 
often baited with raw meat, used by falconers in recalling 
hawks. 

204. jesses. Bands of leather placed about falcons' legs, to 
which are attached cords, held by the birds' owners, and beUs. 
See note on 1. 44. 

210. bergamot. Pear. 

222. fanfares. A flourish or call sounded by trumpets, 
bugles, or hunting-horns. 

229. garden-close. The space enclosed as a garden. 



170 NOTES [Pages 36-38 

INTEKLUDE 

25-29. from these reservoirs and tanks, etc. Shakespeare 
"went to Italian sources for the plots to many of his plays. See 
Dowden's Shakespeare of the Literature Primer Series. 

27. Moor of Venice. Othello, the hero of the tragedy Othello, 
the Moor of Venice. Jew. Shylock, one of the chief charac- 
ters of The Merchant of Venice. 

31. "An Angel is flying overhead!" This exclamation is 
introduced to suggest the theme of the story that follows. The 
reply of the Jew (11. 34-35) prepares the reader still further for 
what is to come. 

41. Talmud. See introductory note to The Spanish Jew's 
Tale. 

THE SPANISH JEW'S TALE 

THE LEGEND OF RABBI BEN LEVI 

The plot of this story is taken from the Talmud (see p. xxvii, 
Introduction), a work which embodies the civil and canonical 
law of the Jewish people. It contains those rules and regula- 
tions by which, in addition to the Old Testament, the conduct 
of that nation is regulated. It is divided into two parts, — the 
Mishnah, containing the text; and the Gemera, containing the 
commentary. There are two Talmuds, — the Palestinian (com- 
monly called the Talmud of Jerusalem) and the Babylonian. 
They contain the same Mishnah but different Gemeras. The 
Babylonian text is about three times as large as the other, and 
is the more highly esteemed by the Jews. It is in it that the 
Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi occurs, it being found in tract Ketu- 
both, Art. 40, and reading as follows : — 



Pages 38-13] THE SICILIAN'S TALE 171 

"As Rabbi Joshua ben Levi lay dying, God spake to the 
Angel of Death : ' Go and do his will.' He went to him. When 
he appeared to him, the Rabbi said, ' Show me my place in 
Paradise.' The Angel said, 'So be it.' Then said the Rabbi, 
' Give me your sword ; on the way you might threaten me.' 
The Angel gave it him. When the Angel had got there he 
lifted him upon the wall and showed him his place. But the 
Rabbi sprang over and landed on the other side. Then he 
grasped him by the edge of his mantle, but he said : ' I swear I 
won't come out.' Then spake the Holy One, 'May he be 
blessed. If he has ever given an oath and then wished to be 
released from it, he shall be released also from this ; but if such 
is not the case, he shall not be released.' Then spake the 
Angel of Death to him, 'Give me back my sword.' When it 
was not given back, there was heard a heavenly voice saying : 
'Give it him for he needs it.' "... 

INTERLUDE 

9. adumbration. Shadow, 

12. impalpable. Intangible, imperceptible to the touch. 
21. Abate. An Italian abbot. 

THE SICILIAN'S TALE 

KING ROBERT OF SICILY 

The plot of this story is drawn from an early English metrical 
romance entitled Robert of Cysille (see p. xxvii. Introduc- 
tion), which in turn was probably suggested by the history 
of the Emperor Jovinian, related in Chapter 59 of the Gesta 



172 ■ NOTES [Page 43 

Bomanorum, a popular story book of the Middle Ages. In 1790 
an abstract of the romance was published by George Ellis, an 
English writer, in his Specimens of Early English Bomances 
(revised in 1848), and it was perhaps here that Longfellow first 
met with it. The following version is taken from the edition 
of 1848: — 

" Robert, king of Sicily, brother to Pope Urban and to Vale- 
mond, emperor of Germany, was among the most powerful and 
valorous princes of Europe ; but his arrogance was still more 
conspicuous than his power or his valor. Constantly occupied 
by the survey of his present greatness, or by projects for its 
future extension, he considered the performance of his religious 
duties as insufferably tedious ; and never paid his adorations to 
the Supreme Being without evident reluctance and disgust. 
His guilt was great ; and his punishment was speedy and ex- 
emplary. 

"Once upon a time, being present during vespers on the eve 
of St. John, his attention was excited by the following passage 
in the Magnificat : ' deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit 
humiles.' He inquired of a clerk the meaning of these words; 
and, having heard the explanation, replied that such expres- 
sions were very foolish, since he, being the very flower of 
chivalry, was too mighty to be thrown down from his seat, and 
had no apprehension of seeing others exalted at his expense. 
The clerk did not presume to attempt any remonstrance ; the 
service continued ; Robert thought it longer and more tedious 
than ever, and at last fell fast asleep, 

" His slumber was not interrupted, nor indeed noticed by any 
of the congregation, because an angel having in the meantime 
assumed his features, together with the royal robes, had been 



Page 43] THE SICILIAN'S TALE 173 

attended by the usual officers to the palace, where supper was 
immediately served. Robert, however, awaked at the close of 
the day, was much astonished by the darkness of the church, 
and not less so by the solitude which surrounded him. He 
began to call loudly for his attendants, and at length attracted 
the notice of the sexton, who, conceiving him to be a thief 
secreted in the church for the purpose of stealing the sacred 
ornaments, approached the door with some precaution and trans- 
mitted his suspicions through the key-hole. Robert indignantly 
repelled the accusation, affirming that he was the king ; upon 
which the sexton, persuaded that he had lost his senses, and 
not at all desirous of having a madman under his care, readily 
opened the door, and was glad to see the supposed maniac run 
with all speed to the palace. But the palace gates were shut ; 
and Robert, whose temper was never very enduring, and was 
now exasperated by rage and hunger, vainly attempted by 
threats of imprisonment, and even of death, to subdue the 
contumacy of the porter. While the metamorphosed monarch 
was venting his rage at the gate, this officer hastened to the 
hall, and, falling on his knees, requested his sovereign's orders 
concerning a madman who loudly asserted his right to the 
throne. The angel directed that he should be immediately 
admitted ; and Robert at length appeared, covered with mud, 
in consequence of an affray in which he had flattened the por- 
ter's nose, and had been himself rolled in a puddle by the 
porter's assistants. 

" Without paying the least attention to these accidental cir- 
cumstances, or to the clamors of the wounded man, who loudly 
demanded justice, he rushed up to the throne ; and though a 
good deal startled at finding not only that, and all the attributes 



174 NOTES [Page 43 

of royalty, but even his complete set of features, in the pos- 
session of another, he boldly proceeded to treat the angel as 
an impostor, threatening him with the vengeance of the pope 
and of the emperor, who, he thought, could not fail of distin- 
guishing the true from the fictitious sovereign of Sicily. 

* ' ' Thou art my fool ! ' said the angel ; 
' Thou shalt be shorn, every deal, (every whit) 
Like a fool, a fool to be : 
For thou hast now no dignity. 
Thine counsellor shall be an ape ; 
And o (in one) clothing you shall be shape. — 
He shall ben thine own fere: (companion) 
Some wit of him thou might lere.' (learn) 
****** 
" He cleped (called) a barber him before, 
That, as a fool, he should be shore 
All around like a frere, (friar) 
An hand-brede (hand's breadth) above the ear; 
And on his crown maken a cross. 
He gan cry and make noise ; 
And said they should all abye, (pay for it) 
That did him swich (such) villainy ! 

" Thus was Robert reduced to the lowest state of human 
degradation ; an object of contempt and derision to those whom 
he had been accustomed to despise ; often suffering from hunger 
and thirst ; and seeing his sufferings inspire no more compassion 
than those of the animals with whom he shared his precarious 
and disgusting repast. Yet his pride and petulance were not 
subdued. To the frequent inquiries of the angel whether he 
still thought himself a king, he continued to answer by haughty 
denunciations of vengeance, and was incensed almost to mad- 



Page 43] THE SICILIAN^ S TALE 175 

ness when this reply excited, as it constantly did, a general 
burst of laughter. 

"In the meantime Robert's dominions were admirably gov- 
erned by his angelic substitute. The country, always fruitful, 
became a paragon of fertility ; abuses were checked by a severe 
administration of equal justice ; and, for a time, all evil pro- 
pensities seemed to be eradicated from the hearts of the happy 
Sicilians — 

"Every man loved well other ; 

Better love was never with brother. 

In his time was never no strife 

Between man and his wife : 

Then was this a joyful thing 

In land to have swich (such) a king. 

"At the end of about three years arrived a solemn embassy 
from Sir Valemond the emperor, requesting that Robert would 
join him on Holy Thursday, at Rome, whither he proposed to 
go on a visit to his brother Urban. The angel welcomed the 
ambassadors ; bestowed on them garments lined with ermine 
and embroidered with jewels, so exquisitely wrought as to excite 
universal astonishment, and departed in their company to Rome. 

" The fool Robert also went, 
Clothed in loathly garnement, 
With fox-tails riven (abundant) all about : 
Men might him knowen in the rout. 
An ape rode of his clothing ; 
So foul rode never king. 

"These strange figures, contrasted with the unparalleled mag- 
nificence of the angel and his attendants, produced infinite mer- 



176 NOTES [Page 43 

riment among the spectators, whose shouts of admiration were 
enlivened by frequent peals of laughter. 

" Robert witnessed, in sullen silence, the demonstrations of 
affectionate regard with which the pope and the emperor wel- 
comed their supposed brother ; but at length, rushing forward, 
bitterly reproached them for thus joining in an unnatural con- 
spiracy with the usurper of his throne. This violent sally, how- 
ever, was received by his brothers, and by the whole papal 
court, as an undoubted proof of his madness ; and he now 
learnt for the first time the real extent of his misfortune. His 
stubbornness and pride gave way, and were succeeded by sen- 
timents of remorse and penitence. 

" We have already seen that he was not very profoundly 
versed in Scripture history, but he now fortunately recollected 
two examples which he considered as nearly similar to his own ; 
those of Nebuchadnezzar and Holofernes. Recalling to his mind 
their greatness and degradation, he observed that God alone had 
bestowed on them that power which he afterwards annihilated. 

" ' So hath he mine, for my gult ; (guilt) 
Now am I full lowe pult ; (put) 
And that is right that I so be ; 
Lord, on thy fool have thou pite! 
That error hath made me to smart 
That I had in my heart ; 
Lord, I leved (believed) not on thee; 
Lord, on thy fool have thou pite. 
Holy writ I had in despite ; 
Therefore reaved (removed) is my right; 
Therefore is right a fool that I be ; 
Lord, on thy fool have thou pite.' 



Page 43] THE SICILIAN'S TALE 177 

"After five weeks spent in Rome, the emperor and the sup- 
posed king of Sicily returned to their respective dominions, 
Robert being still accoutred in his fox-tails and accompanied 
by his ape, whom he now ceased to consider as his inferior. 
When returned to the palace, the angel, before the whole court, 
repeated his usual question ; but the penitent, far from perse- 
vering in his former insolence, humbly replied, ' that he was 
indeed a fool, or worse than a fool ; but that he had at least 
acquired a perfect indifference for all worldly dignities.' The 
attendants were now ordered to retire ; and the angel, being 
left alone with Robert, informed him that his sins were for- 
given ; gave him a few salutary admonitions, and added : — 

'* ' I am an angel of renown 
Sent to keep thy regioun. 
More joy me shall fall 

In heaven, among mine feren (c'ompanions) all, 
In an hour of a day, 

Than here, I thee say, / 

In an hundred thousand year ; 
Though all the world, far and near, 
Were mine at my liking : 
I am an angel ; thou art king ! ' 

"With these words he disappeared; and Robert, returning 
to the hall, received, not without some surprise and confusion, 
the usual salutations of the courtiers, 

" From this period he continued, during three years, to reign 
with so much justice and wisdom that his subjects had no cause 
to regret the change of their sovereign; after which, being 
warned by the angel of his approaching dissolution, he dictated 
to his secretaries a full account of his former perverseness, and 

N 



178 NOTES [Pages 43^4 

of its strange punishment, and, having sealed it with the royal 
signet, ordered it to be sent, for the edification of his brothers, 
to Rome and Vienna. Both received, with due respect, the 
important lesson ; tlie emperor often recollected with tender- 
ness and compassion the degraded situation of the valiant 
Robert ; and the pope, besides availing himself of the story in 
a number of sermons addressed to the faithful, caused it to be 
carefully preserved in the archives of the Vatican, as a constant 
warning against pride and an incitement to the performance of 
our religious duties." 

1. Robert of Sicily. This character cannot be placed his- 
torically. It may be Robert of Anjou (1275-1343), who once 
attempted the subjugation of Sicily ; or some Norman Robert 
of the Middle Ages. Pope Urbane. There have been several 
popes by the name of Urbane, or Urban. It is, of course, im- 
possible to tell which one is referred to here. 

2. Valmond. This character is unknown to history. Alle- 
maine. Germany. The name is now obsolete. 

5.' St. John's eve. Eve of June 23. A time of great rejoic- 
ing in the church during the Middle Ages. 

6. Magnificat. The song of the Virgin Mary, taken from 
Liike^ Chap. I. So called because it commences with this word 
in the Vulgate. 

9-10. "Deposuit potentes, " etc. "He hath put down the 
mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree." Luke 
i . 52. 

17. Seditious. Tending to excite opposition to lawful author- 
ity. 

32. imprecations. Curses. 

34. stalls. Seats in the choir of the church. 



Pages 45-51J THE SICILIAN'S TALE 179 

56. seneschal. Steward; an officer in the houses of princes 
and dignitaries whose duty is to oversee the preparation of feasts. 

63. dais. A raised floor at the upper end of the dining-hall, 
where the table, occupied by persons of high rank, stood. 

68. effulgence. Splendor. 

69. an exaltation. An influence which made those present 
have elevated thoughts and aspirations. 

83. the bells and scalloped cape. Symbols of a jester or fool. 

84. thy counsellor. Jesters frequently had companions who 
acted as foils for them. 

86. henchmen. Pages, servants (rare). 

106. Saturnian reign. Saturn was an ancient Italian god, 
who is said to have taught the people agriculture, gardening, 
etc. His reign was a prosperous one, and was known to the 
poets as " the golden age." 

110. Enceladus, the giant. One of the one-hundred-armed 
giants who made war upon the gods. As he was flying, Athene 
threw the island of Sicily upon him. 

122. The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel. Explain. 

141. housings. The ornamental trappings of a horse. 

143. menials. Persons doing servile work, A term of con- 
tempt, 

144. piebald. Mottled. 

150. St. Peter's Square. The space in front of St. Peter's 
Church known as the Piazza of St. Peter's. 

169. Holy Week. The last week of Lent, i.e., the week be- 
fore Easter. 

186. Salerno. A city in the southwestern part of Italy. 

187. Palermo's walls. Palermo is a fortified city in the 
northwestern part of Sicily ; the capital of the island. 



180 NOTES [Pages 51-55 

189. Angelus. The bell tolled in the morning, at noon, and 
in the evening to indicate the time when the angelus, — a devo- 
tion in the memory of the annunciation to the Virgin Mary 
of the incarnation of the Son of God, — is to be recited. 

INTERLUDE 

2. Saga. See introductory note to The Musician's Tale. 
5. Norroway. Norway. 

9. wandering Saga-man or Scald. Wandering singers or 
bards. There seems to be this difference between a scald and a 
saga-man : the scald composed as well as sang heroic poems, 
while the saga-man sang the songs of others. 

10. Heimskringla. See introductory note to The Musician's 
Tale. 

17. runes. Mystic songs of the Scandinavians. 

THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 

THE SAGA OF KING OLAF 

The plot of this poem, or series of poems, is taken from the 
Heimskringla (seep, xxvii. Introduction), a chronicle-history, 
by the Icelandic author Snorro Sturleson. The Heimskringla 
deals with the Norse kings and other important personages from 
the earliest mythical times down to the battle of Re in 1177. 
It is made up of sixteen sagas or traditions, each of which has a 
hero different from the others. The work was translated into 
English in 1844, by Samuel Laing, a Scotch writer, and it is 
probable that Longfellow became acquainted with it through 
him. 



Pages 55-57] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 181 

The Saga of King Olaf is adapted from the one in the original 
known as King Olaf Tryggvesson's Saga. Longfellow has 
greatly reduced the length of the story (the original contains 
one hundred and twenty-three chapters, with an appendix of 
eight more) by combining two or more chapters into one in 
some cases and by omitting others. He has added two parts, 
— The Challenge of Thor and The Nun of Nidaros. 

I. THE CHALLENGE OF THOR 

As you read on through the Saga seek to discover the poet's 
purpose in introducing it with this chapter of his own. 

1. Thor. The war god of the ancient Scandinavians known 
also as the "Thunderer." He was regarded as inferior in rank 
only to Odin his father, who was the supreme being. In times 
of stress he defended the gods, and helped mankind by destroy- 
ing evil spirits. He was armed with a heavy hammer, Miolner 
(the crusher), which returned to his hand of its own accord as 
often as he hurled it. He also possessed a pair of iron gloves or 
gauntlets, which enabled him to wield his hammer effectively, 
and a girdle which, clasped about him, doubled his strength. 
He is represented as a powerful man with a long red beard. 

25. Jove. The supreme god of the Komans ; frequently called 
Jupiter. 

38. Galilean. The Christ. 

II. KING OLAF'S RETURN 

Olaf Tryggvesson (956-1000), the hero of this poem or series 
of poems, ruled Norway from 996 until his death in 1000. He 
was the son of Tryggve and Astrid, and was born in exile, his 



182 NOTES [Pages 57-58 

father having been slain a short time before and his mother 
expelled from the country. He was educated in Russia, and on 
arriving at the age of maturity became a viking, ravaging the 
coasts of Briton, Ireland, and France. While on one of his 
plundering expeditions, he met a monk who persuaded him to 
become a Christian. Shortly afterward he made his way to the 
Norwegian coasts, and after a hard struggle, overthrew Hakon 
the Bad, and made himself king. He forced Christianity upon 
the people by means of the sword, and this with other acts of 
oppression led to a revolt. His people leagued against him with 
the kings of Sweden and Denmark, and he was defeated and 
killed in a naval battle. 

The original tells of his return to Norway as follows : "Olaf 
went out to sea to the eastward, and made the land at Moster 
Island, where he first touched the ground of Norway. ... He 
then sailed northward day and night, when the wind permitted, 
and did not let the people know who it was that was sailing in 
such haste. When he came north to Agdaness, he heard that 
the earl (Hakon) was in the fiord, and was in discord with, the 
bonders. On hearing this, he saw that things were going in a 
very different way from what he expected ; for after the battle 
with the Jomsburg vikings, all men in Norway were the most 
sincere friends of the earl ; and now it turns out that a great 
chief has come to the country at a time when the bonders are 
in arms against him." 

48. Drontheim fiord. Drontheim is a city in the central part 
of Norway on the fiord by the same name. 

66. Hakon. Hakon Gamle, at whose home Olaf and his 
mother took refuge while in exile. Not to be confused with 
Hakon the Bad. 



Pages 58-61] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 183 

68. Queen Gunhild's wrath and wrack. Queen Gunhild, the 
mother of Harald Greyskin and Gudrod, petty kings of Norway, 
sent men in pursuit of Olaf and his mother. They failed, how- 
ever, to bring them back. 

69-84. And a hurried flight by sea, etc. Astrid had a brother 
Siguard by name, who lived in Russia. She decided to go to 
him, and took passage on a boat with some mercliants. On the 
way the vessel was captured by pirates, and she and Olaf were 
sold into slavery. Olaf was taken to Esthonia, a Russian 
province bordering on the Baltic sea, where after six years of 
captivity, he was found and liberated by his uncle. He then be- 
came a page to Valdemar and Allogia, king and queen of Nov- 
gorod, a government of western Russia, and remained in their 
service until maturity, when, angered by petty jealousies on the 
part of some of the nobility, he withdrew to become a viking. 

106. Smalson Horn. An inaccessible mountain peak in the 
southern part of Norway ; now called Hornelen. 

III. THORA OF RIMOL 

"Then the earl went his way with one thrall or slave, called 
Karker, attending him. ... He now sends Karker to Thora 
(his dearest friend in Guldal valley), and begs her to come 
secretly to him. She did so, and he took it very kind of her, 
and begged her to conceal him for a few nights until the army of 
bonders had dispersed. 'Here about my house,' said she, 'you 
will be hunted after, both inside and outside ; for many know 
that I would willingly help you if I can. There is but one place 
about the house where they never could expect to find such a 
man as you, and that is the swine stye.' When they came 
there the earl said, ' Well, let it be made ready for us ; as to 



184 NOTES [Page 61 

save our life is the first and foremost concern.' The slave dug 
a great hole in it, bore away the earth that he dug out, and laid 
wood over it. Then the earl and Karkerboth went in the hole. 
Thora covered it with wood, and threw earth over it, and drove 
the swine upon the top of it. The swine stye was under a great 
stone. 

"Olaf came from sea into the fiord with five long ships. He 
learned then that the bonders had driven away Earl Hakon, and 
that he had fled, and his troops were all dispersed. The bond- 
ers then met Olaf to the joy of both, and they made an agree- 
ment together. The bonders took Olaf to be their king, and 
resolved, one and all, to seek out Earl Hakon. They went up 
Guldal ; for it seemed to them likely that if the earl was 
concealed in any house, it must be at Rimol. They come up, 
therefore and search everywhere, outside and inside the house, 
but could not find him. Then Olaf held a House Thing or 
council out in the yard, and stood upon a great stone, which 
lay beside the swine-stye, and made a speech to the people, in 
which he promised to enrich the man with rewards and honors 
who should kill the earl. This speech was heard by the earl and 
the thrall Karker. There was a little daylight admitted to them. 

'" Why art thou so pale,' says the earl, 'and now again 
black as earth ? Thou hast not the intention to betray me ? ' 

" ' By no means,' replies Karker. 

" ' We were born on the same night,' says the earl, ' and the 
time will be short between our deaths.' 

"King Olaf went away in the evening. When night came 
the earl kept himself awake ; but Karker slept and was disturbed 
in his sleep. The earl woke him and asked him, ' what he was 
dreaming of ? ' 



Page 63] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 185 

" He answered, ' I was at Lade, and Olaf Tryggvesson was 
laying a gold ring about my neck.' 

" The earl says, ' It will be a red ring Olaf will lay about thy 
neck if he catches thee. Take care of that ! From me thou 
shalt enjoy all that is good, therefore betray nie not.' 

"They then kept themselves awake both ; the one, as it were 
watching upon the other. But towards day the earl suddenly 
dropped asleep ; but his sleep was so unquiet that he drew his 
heels under him, and raised his neck, as if going to rise, and 
screamed dreadfully high. On this Karker, dreadfully alarmed, 
drew a large knife out of his belt, stuck it in the earl's throat, 
and cut it across, and killed Earl Hakon. Then Karker cut off 
the earl's head, and ran away. Late in the day he came to 
Lade, where he delivered the earl's head to King Olaf, and told 
all these circumstances of his own and Earl Hakon's doings. 
Olaf had him taken out and beheaded." 

169. Nidarholm. A village in the central part of Norway, a 
few miles northeast of Trondhjem. Now called Munkholm. 

IV. QUEEN SIGRID THE HAUGHTY 

" Queen Sigrid in Sweden, who had for surname the Haughty, 
sat in her mansion, and during the winter messengers went 
between King Olaf and Sigrid to propose his courtship to her, 
and she had no objection ; and the matter was fully and fast 
resolved upon. Thereupon King Olaf sent to Queen Sigrid the 
great gold ring he had taken from the temple door of Lade 
which was considered a distinguished ornament. The meeting 
for concluding the business was appointed to be in spring on 
the frontier, at the Gotha River. Now the ring which King 



186 NOTES [Pages 63-64 

Olaf had sent Queen Sigrid was highly prized by all men ; yet 
the queen's goldsmiths, two brothers, who took the ring in 
their hands, and weighed it, spoke quietly to each other about 
it, and in a manner that made the queen call them to her, and 
ask ' what they smiled at ? ' But they would not say a word, 
and she commanded them to say what it was they had dis- 
covered. Then they said the ring is false. Upon this she 
ordered the ring to be broken in pieces, and it was found to be 
copper inside. Then the queen was enraged, and said that Olaf 
would deceive her in more ways than this one. 

"Early in the spring King Olaf went eastwards to the meet- 
ing with Queen Sigrid ; and when they met the business was 
considered about which the winter before they had held com- 
munication, namely, their marriage ; and the business seemed 
likely to be concluded. But when Olaf insisted that Sigrid 
should let herself be baptized, she answered thus : ' I must 
not part from the faith which I have held, and my forefathers 
before me ; and, on the other hand, I shall make no objection 
to your believing in the god that pleases you best. ' Then King 
Olaf was enraged, and answered in a passion, ' Why should I 
care to have thee, an old faded woman, and a heathen jade ? ' 
and therewith struck her in the face with his glove which he 
held in his hands, rose up, and they parted. ' Sigrid said, 
' This may some day be thy death.' The king set off to Viken, 
the queen to Sweden." 

190. Of Brynhilda's love and the wrath of Gudrun. Bryn- 
hilda and Gudrun are the principal characters of a German 
epic poem of a grewsome character written in the thirteenth 
century. 



Page 66] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 187 

V. THE SKERRY OF SHRIEKS 

" When spring came King Olaf went out to Viken ; and was 
on visits to his great farms. He sent notice over all Viken that 
he would call out an army in summer, and proceed to the north 
parts of the country. Then he went north to Agder ; and when 
Easter was approaching he took the road to Rogaland with three 
hundred men, and came on Easter evening north to Angvalds- 
ness in Kormt Island, where an Easter feast was prepared for 
him. That same night came Eyvind Kellda to the island with 
a well-manned long-ship, of which the whole crew consisted of 
sorcerers, and other dealers with evil spirits. Eyvind went from 
his ship to the land with his followers, and there they played 
many of their pranks of witchcraft. Eyvind clothed them with 
caps of darkness, and so thick a mist that the king and his men 
could see nothing of them ; but when they came near to the 
house of Angvaldsness, it became clear day. Then it went dif- 
ferently from what Eyvind had intended ; for now there came 
just such a darkness over him and his comrades in witchcraft 
as they had made before, so that they could see no more from 
their eyes than from the back of their heads, but went round 
and round in a circle upon the island. When the king's watch- 
men saw them goiag about, without knowing what people these 
were, they told the king. Thereupon he rose up with his peo- 
ple, put on his clothes, and when he saw Eyvind with his men 
wandering about, he ordered his men to arm, and examine what 
folk these were. The king's men discovered it was Eyvind, 
took him and all his company prisoners, and brought them 
to the king. Eyvind now told all he had done on his journey. 
Then the king ordered tbem all to be taken out. to a skerry, 



188 NOTES [Pages 66-71 

which was under water in flood tide, and there to be left bound. 
Eyvind and all with him left their lives on this rock, and the 
skerry is still called the Skerry of Shrieks." 

232, Angvaldsness. A village on the island of Karmt, off the 
southwestern coast of Norway. 

237. Skerry. A reef (Scotch). 

275. warlocks. Wizards. 

288. Witch of Endor. A female soothsayer to whom King 
Saul went to learn of his future. See 1 Samuel xxviii. 7-25. 

VI. THE WRAITH OF ODIN 

" It is related that once on a time King Olaf was at a feast at 
this Angvaldsness, and one eventide there came to him an old 
man very gifted in words, and with a broad-brimmed hat upon 
Ills head. He was one-eyed, and had something to tell of every 
land. He entered into conversation with the king ; and as the 
king found much pleasure in the guest's speech, he asked him 
concerning many things, to which the guest gave good answers : 
and the king sat up late in the evening. Among other things, 
the king asked him if he knew who the Angvald had been who 
had given his name both to the ness and to the house. The 
guest replied, that this Angvald was a king, and a very valiant 
man, and that he made great sacrifices to a cow which he had 
with him wherever he went, and considered it good for her 
health to drink her milk. This same King Angvald had a battle 
with a king called Varin, in which battle Angvald fell. He was 
buried under a mound close to the house ; ' and there stands his 
stone over him, and close to it his cow also is laid.' Such and 
many other things, and ancient events, the king inquired after. 



Pages 71-73] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 189 

Now, when the king had sat late into the night, the bishop 
reminded him that it was time to go to bed, and the king did 
so. But after the king was undressed, and had laid himself in 
bed, the guest sat upon the footstool before the bed, and still 
spoke long with the king ; for after one tale was ended, he still 
wanted a new one. Then the bishop observed to the king, it 
was time to go to sleep, and the king did so ; and the guest 
went out. Soon after the king awoke, asked for the guest, and 
ordered him to be called ; but the guest was not to be found. 
The morning after, the king ordered his cook and cellar-master 
to be called, and asked if any strange person had been with 
them. They said, that as they were making ready the meat a 
man came to them, and observed that they w^ere cooking very 
poor meat for the king's table ; whereupon he gave them two 
thick and fat pieces of beef, which they boiled with the rest of 
the meat. Then the king ordered that all the meat should be 
thrown away, and said this man can be no other than the Odin 
whom the heathen have so long worshipped ; and added, ' but 
Odin shall not deceive us.' " 

Odin was the chief god of Norse mythology (see introductory 
note to The Challenge of Thor). He was regnrded as the source 
of wisdom and the promoter of culture. His death was brought 
about by Fenris, a water-demon, in the form of a gigantic wolf. 

329. Dead rides Sir Morton of Fogelsang. The stanzas of 
old ballads commonly end in a refrain which frequently has no 
bearing upon the story under consideration. What effect is 
gained by its introduction ? 

361. Havamal. Odin's song of triumph. 



190 NOTES [Page 74 

VII. IRON BEARD 

" King Olaf collected a great army in the east of the country 
towards summer and sailed with it north to Nidaros in the 
Drontheim country. • From thence he sent a message-token 
over all the fiord, calling the people of eight different dis- 
tricts to a Thing ; but the bonders changed the Thing-token 
into a war-token, and called together all men, free and unfree, 
in all the Drontheim land. Now when the king met the Thing, 
the whole people came fully armed. After the Thing was seated, 
the king spoke, and invited them to adopt Christianity ; but 
he had spoken only a short time when the bonders called out 
to him to be silent, or they would attack him and drive him 
away. 'We did so,' said they, 'with Hakon, foster-son of 
Athelstan, when he brought us the same message, and we held 
him in quite as much respect as we hold thee.' When King 
Olaf saw how incensed the bonders were, and that they had 
such a war force that he could make no resistance, he turned 
his speech as if he would give way to the bonders, and said, 
'I wish only to be in good understanding with you as of 
old.' 

"There was a great bonder called Skiaegge, and sometimes 
Iron Beard, who dwelt in Ophang in Yriar. He spoke first at 
the Thing to Olaf ; and was the foremost man of the bonders in 
speaking against Christianity. The Thing was concluded in 
this way for that time, — the bonders returned home, and the 
king went to Lade. 

" King Olaf returned with all his forces into the Drontheim 
country ; and when he came to Maere all among the chiefs of 
the Drontheim people who were most opposed to Christianity 



Page 74] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 191 

were assembled, and had with them all the great bonders who 
had before made sacrifice at that place. Now the king let the 
people be summoned to the Thing, where both parties met armed; 
and when the Thing was seated the king made a speech, in 
which he told the people to go over to Christianity. Iron Beard 
replies on the part of the bonders, and says that the will of the 
bonders is now, as formerly, that the king should not break their 
laws. 'We want, king,' said he, 'that thou shouldst offer 
sacrifice, as other kings before thee have done. ' All the bonders 
applauded his speech with a loud shout, and said they would 
have all things according to what Skiaegge said. Then the king 
said he would go into the temple of their gods with them, and see 
what the practices were when they sacrificed. The bonders 
thought well of this proceeding, and both parties went to the 
temple. 

"Now King Olaf entered into the temple with some few of his 
men and a few bonders ; and when the king came to where their 
gods were, Thor, as the most considered among their gods, sat 
there adorned with gold and silver. The king lifted up his gold 
inlaid ax, which he carried in his hands, and struck Thor so that 
the image rolled down from its seat. Then the king's men 
turned to and threw down all the gods from their seats ; and 
while the king was in the temple. Iron Beard was killed outside 
of the temple doors, and the king's men did it. When the king 
came forth out of the temple, he offered the bonders two condi- 
tions, — that all should accept of Christianity forthwith, or that 
they should fight with him. But as Iron Beard was killed, 
there was no leader in the bonders' army to raise the banner 
against King Olaf ; so they took the other condition, to surren- 
der to the king's will and obey his order. Then King Olaf had 



192 NOTES [Pages 74-78 

all the people present baptized, and took hostages from them 
for their remaining true to Christianity." 

393. Hus-Ting. House Thing, a public meeting, an as- 
sembly of householders. Mere. A meeting-place near Dront- 
heim (see note on 1. 6, King Olaf's Return). 

397. Yriar. A district lying near Drontheim. 

405. Hodden-gray. Cloth made of wool in its natural state ; 
not dyed (Scotch). 

** What though on hamely fare we dine, 
Wear hoddin-grey au' a' that ? " 
— Burns, Is Therefor Honest Poverty, 11. 9-10. 

416. Hymer the Giant. In Norse mythology, a water- 
demon, the giant of the winter sea. He is pictured with his 
beard covered with ice. 

YIII. GUDRUN 

"King Olaf appointed a meeting with the relations of Iron 
Beard, and offered them the compensation or penalty for his 
bloodshed ; for there were many bold men who had an interest 
in that business. Iron Beard had a daughter called Gudrun ; 
and at last it was agreed upon between the parties that the king 
should take her in marriage. When the wedding day came 
King Olaf and Gudrun retired. As soon as Gudrun thought the 
king was asleep, she drew a knife, with which she intended to 
run him through ; but the king saw it, took the knife from her, 
and went to his men, and told them what had happened. Gud- 
run also went away along with the men who had followed her. 
Gudrun never came into the king's house again." 



Pages 79-81] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 193 

474. cairn. A heap of stones of a rounded or conical form 
erected as a sepulchral monument. 
490. bodkin. An instrument used to fasten the hair. 

IX. THANGBRAND THE PRIEST 

" When King Olaf Tryggvesson had been two years king of 
Norway, there was a Saxon priest in his house who was called 
Thangbrand, a passionate, ungovernable man, and a great man 
slayer ; but he was a good scholar, and a clever man. The king 
would not have him in his house upon account of his misdeeds ; 
but gave him the errand to go to Iceland, and bring that land to 
the Christian faith. The king gave him a merchant vessel ; 
and, as far as we know of this voyage of his, he landed first in 
Iceland at Ostfiord, in the southern Alftafiord, and passed the 
winter in the house of Hall of Sidu. Thangbrand proclaimed 
Christianity in Iceland, and on his persuasion Hall and all his 
house-people, and many other chiefs, allowed themselves to be 
baptized ; but there were many more who spoke against it. 
Thorvald Veile and Veterlid the scald composed a satire about 
Thangbrand ; but he killed them both outright. Thangbrand 
was two years in Iceland, and was the death of three men be- 
fore he left it." 

510. Chrysostome. St. John Chrysostome (847-407), a cele- 
brated father of the Greek Church and writer of many religious 
books. 

519. wassail-bowl. Wassail is a liquor formerly much used 
on festive occasions, composed of wine or ale, sugar, nutmeg, 
toast, and roasted apples. 

523. malecontent. One who is discontented and who expresses 
his discontent by words or acts. 
o 



194 NOTES [Pages 82-86 

544. Altafiord. A fiord in the eastern part of Iceland. Now 
called Alfta Fiord. 

560. shovel hat. A broad brimmed hat, turned up at the 
sides, and projecting in front like a shovel ; worn by clergymen 
of the English Church. 

X. RAUD THE STRONG 

" There was a bonder, by name Raud the Strong, who dwelt 
in Godo Isle in Salten Fiord. Raud was a very rich man, who 
had many house servants ; and likewise was a very powerful 
man, who had many Laplanders in his service when he wanted 
them. Raud was a great idolater, and very skilful in witch- 
craft, and was a great friend of Thorer Hiort. Both were great 
chiefs. Now when they heard Olaf was coming with a great 
force from the south, they gathered together an army, ordered 
out ships, and they too had a great force on foot," 

596. Jarls and Thanes. The jarls had the rank of earls, while 
the thanes were but one rank above the ordinary freeman. 

600. Salten Fiord. A fiord in the northwestern part of Nor- 
way. 

602. Viking. The vikings were roving pirates who plundered 
the coasts of Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. 

603. Godoe Isles. Islands lying near the mouth of Salten 
Fiord. 

XI. BISHOP SIGURD AT SALTEN FIORD 

" King Olaf sailed with his fleet northward along the coast, 
and baptized all the people among whom he came ; and when 
he came north to Salten Fiord, he intended to sail into it to look 
for Raud, but a terrible tempest and storm was raging in the 



Page 86] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 195 

fiord. Then the king applied to Bishop Sigurd, and asked him 
if he knew any counsel about it ; and the bishop said he would 
try if God would give him power to conquer these arts of the 
devil. 

"Bishop Sigurd took all his mass robes and went forward to 
the bow of the king's ship ; ordered tapers to be lighted, and 
incense to be brought out. Then he set the crucifix upon the 
stem of the vessel, read the Evangelist and many prayers, be- 
sprinkled" the whole ship with holy water, and then ordered the 
ship-tent to be stowed away, and to row into the fiord. The 
king ordered all the other ships to follow him. Now when all 
was ready on board the Crane to row, she went into the fiord 
without the rowers finding any wind ; and the sea was curled 
about their keel track like as in a calm, so quiet and still was 
the water; yet on each side of them the waves were lashing up 
so high that they hid the sight of the mountains. And so the 
one ship followed the other in the smooth sea track ; and they 
proceeded this way the whole day and night, until they reached 
Godo Isle. Now when they came to Raud's house his great 
ship, the dragon, was afloat close to the land. King Olaf went 
up to the house immediately with his people ; made an attack 
on the loft in which Raud was sleeping, and broke it open. 
The men rushed in ; Raud was taken and bound, and of the 
people with him some were killed and some were made prison- 
ers. Then the king ordered Raud to be brought before him, 
and offered him baptism. ' And,' says the king, ' I will not take 
thy property from thee, but rather be thy friend, if thou wilt 
make thyself worthy to be so.' Raud exclaimed with all his 
might against the proposal, saying he never would believe in 
Christ, and making his scoff of God. Then the king was wroth 



196 NOTES [Pages 86-87 

and said Raud should die the worst of deaths. And the king 
ordered him to be bound to a beam of wood, with his face up- 
permost, and a round pin of wood to be set between his teeth to 
force his mouth open. Tlien the king ordered an adder to be 
stuck into tlie mouLli of liim ; but tlie serpent would not go into 
his mouth, but shrunk back when Raud breathed against it. 
Now the king ordered the hollow branch of an angelica root to 
be stuck into Raud's mouth ; others say, the king put his horn 
into his mouth, and forced the serpent to go in by holding a red- 
hot iron before the opening. So the serpent crept into the 
mouth of Raud and down his throat, and gnawed its way out 
of his side; and thus Raud perished. King Olaf took here 
much gold and silver, and other property of weapons, and many 
sorts of precious effects ; and all the men who were with Raud 
he either had baptized, or if they refused had them killed or 
tortured. Then the king took the dragon-ship which Raud had 
owned, and steered it himself, for it was a much larger and 
handsomer vessel than the Crane. In front it had a dragon's 
head, and aft a crook, which turned up, and ended with the 
figure of the dragon's tail. The carved work on each side of 
the stem and stern was gilded. This ship the king called the 
Serpent. King Olaf then sailed southwards along the land and 
returned to Drontheim, and landed at Nidaros, where he took 
up his winter abode." 

640-644. And the sea through all its tide-ways, etc. The 
Salten Fiord is more celebrated in the north of Norway, and 
more dreaded than the famous Maelstrom. It is a large fiord 
within ; but the throat through which the vast mass of water 
has to run in and out at flood and ebb is so narrow, that it 
makes a very heavy and dangerous race for many miles out at 



Pages 87-90] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 197 

sea, especially in ebb, wlien the whole body of water is return- 
ing to the ocean. The stream can only be crossed during a few 
minutes at still water, when flood or ebb has not begun to run, 
unless at a great distance from the jaws of this singular gulf. 

667. John's Apocalypse. Revelation, the last book of the 
Bible, written by St. John. 

XII. KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS 

"As King Olaf one day was walking in the street some men 
met him, and he who went the foremost saluted the king. The 
king asked the man his name, and he called himself Halfred. 

" ' Art thou the scald ?' said the king. 
" ' I can compose poetry,' replied he. . . . 

" The king gave him a sword without a scabbard, and said, 
'Compose me a song upon this sword, and let the word sword 
be in every line of the verses.' Halfred sang thus : — 

'* * This sword of swords is my reward. 
For him who knows to wield a sword, 
And with his sword to serve his lord, 
Yet wants a sword, his lot is hard. 
I would I had my good lord's leave 
For this good sword a sheath to choose : 
I'm worth three swords where men swords use. 
But for the sword-sheath now I grieve ! ' 

"Then the king gave him the scabbard, observing that the 
word sword was wanting in one line of his strophe. ' But there 
are three swords at least in two other lines,' says Halfred. ' So 
it is,' replies the king." 

717. Yule-tide. Christmas time. 



198 NOTES [Pages 91-94 

720. Berserks. Fierce warriors of heathen times in Scandi- 
navia. 

746. Quern-biter of Hakon the Good. Quern-biter was the 
name of a famous sword belonging to Hakon the Good, hero of 
the saga known by his name. 

749. Foot-breadth of Thoralf the Strong. Foot-breadth was 
the name of the sword with which Thoralf the Strong fought 
against Hakon the Good. Thoralf was defeated and slain. 

792. Was-hael! Your health! 

Xni. THE BUILDING OF THE LONG SERPENT 

"The winter after King Olaf came from Halogaland, he had 
a great vessel built at Ladehammer, which was larger than any 
ship in the country, and of which the beam-knees are still to be 
seen. The length of the keel that rested upon the grass was 
seventy-four ells. Thorberg Skafting was the man's name who 
was the master-builder of the ship ; but there were many others 
besides, — some to fell wood, some to shape it, some to make 
nails, some to carry timber ; and all that was used was of the 
best. The ship was both long and broad and high-sided, and 
strongly timbered. While they were planking the ship, it hap- 
pened that Thorberg had to go home to his farm upon some 
urgent business ; and as he remained there a long time, the 
ship was planked upon both sides when he came back. In the 
evening the king went out, and Thorberg with him, to see how 
the vessel looked, and everybody said that never was seen so 
large and so beautiful a ship of war. Then the king returned 
to town. Early next morning the king returns again to the 
ship, and Thorberg with him. The carpenters were there be- 
fore them, but all were standing idle with their arras across. 



PAGE 94] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 199 

The king asked ' what was the matter ? ' They said the ship 
was destroyed ; for some one had gone from stem to stern, and 
cut one deep notch after the other down the one side of the 
planking. When the king came nearer he saw it was so, and 
said, with an oath, ' The man shall die who has thus destroyed 
the vessel out of envy, if he can be discovered, and I shall be- 
stow a great reward on whoever finds him out. ' 

"'lean tell you, king,' says Thorberg, ' who has done this 
piece of work. ' 

" ' I don't think,' replies the king, 'that any one is so likely 
to find it out as thou art. ' 

"Thorberg says, 'I will tell you, king, who did it. I did it 
myself. ' 

"The king says, 'Thou must restore it all to the same con- 
dition as before, or thy life shall pay for it.' 

" Then Thorberg went and chipped the planks until the deep 
notches were all smoothed and made even with the rest ; and the 
king and all present declared that the ship was much handsomer 
on the side of the hull which Thorberg had chipped, and bade 
him shape the other side in the same way, and gave him great 
thanks for the improvement. Afterwards Thorberg was the mas- 
ter-builder of the ship until she was entirely finished. The ship 
was a dragon, built after the one the king had captured in 
Halogaland ; but this ship was far larger, and more carefully put 
together in all her parts. The king called this ship Serpent the 
Long, and the other Serpent the Short. The Lo7ig Serpent had 
thirty-four benches for rowers. The head and the arched tail 
were both gilt, and the bulwarks were as high as in sea-going 
ships. This ship was the best and most costly ship ever made 
in Norway." 



200 NOTES [Pages 95-98 

821. orgies. Drunken revelries. 

841. keel to calling. The keel is the principal timber in a 
ship, extending from stem to stern at the bottom and support- 
ing the whole frame. The carling is a timber directly over the 
keel, serving as a foundation for the body of the ship. 

864. ells. An ell is a measure ranging from eighteen to forty- 
five inches in length, according to the country in which it is 
used. The Scandinavian ell is about twenty-three inches. 

XIV. THE CREW OF THE LONG SERPENT 

" The king ordered the Long Serpent to be put into the water, 
along with all his other ships. He himself steered the Long 
Serpent. When the crews were taken out for the ships, they 
were so carefully selected that no man on board the Long Ser- 
pent was older than sixty or younger than twenty years, and all 
were men distinguished for strength and courage. 

"Ulf Rode was the name of the man who bore King Olaf's 
banner, and was in the forecastle of the Long Serpent ; and with 
him was Kiolbiorn the marshal, and Vikar of Tinndaland, and 
Thorstein Oxefod, brothers of Arnliot Gellina. By the bulkhead 
next the forecastle were Vakur Elfski Raumason, Birse Bolla- 
son the Strong, An Skyti from Jemteland, Thrand Rame from 
Thelemark, and his brother Uthysmer. In the hold next the 
mast were Einar Tambarskelver, Halstein Hlifarson, Thorolf 
Ivar Smette, and Orra Skoganef. Many other valiant men were 
in the Serpent., although we cannot tell all their names. In 
every half-division of the hold were eight men, and each and 
all chosen men ; and in the forehold were thirty men. It was a 
common saying among the people that the Long Serpenfs crew 



Pages 98-102] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 201 

was as distinguished for bravery, strength, and daring, among 
other men, as the Long Serpent was distinguished among other 
ships." 

939. Old King Gorm. A Danisli king wlio lived in the last 
part of the ninth and first part of the tenth centuries. He was 
the first ruler of united Denmark. Blue-Tooth Harold. A 
son of the King Gorm and his successor to the Danish crown. 

XV. A LITTLE BIRD IN THE AIR 

" When Earl Sigvalde came to Vendland, Burislief, the king 
of the Vends, held his wedding with Thyri, a sister of King 
Svein, and received her in marriage ; but as long as she was 
among heathens she would neither eat nor drink with them, 
and this lasted for seven days. 

"It happened one night the Queen Thyri ran away in the 
dark, and into the woods, and came at last to Denmark. But 
there she did not dare to remain, and went on secretly to Nor- 
way, and never stayed her journey until she fell in with King 
Olaf, by whom she was kindly received. Thyri related to the 
king her sorrows, and entreated his advice in her need, and pro- 
tection in his kingdom. Thyri was a well-spoken woman, and 
the king had pleasure in her conversation. He saw she was a 
handsome woman, and it came into his mind that she would be 
a good match ; so he turns the conversation that way, and asks 
if she will marry him. She bade him to dispose himself of her 
hand and fate, and King Olaf took Thyri in marriage." 

945. garrulous. Loquacious, talkative. 

959. weald. A wood or forest, wold. A plain, or open 
country. 



202 NOTES [Page 103 

XVI. QUEEN THYRI AND THE ANGELICA STALKS 

"The following spring Queen Thyri complained often to 
King Olaf, and wept bitterly over it, that she who had so great 
property in Venland had no goods or possessions here in the 
country that was suitable for a queen ; and sometimes she 
would entreat the king with fine words to get her property 
restored to her, and saying that King Burislaf was so great a 
friend of King Olaf that he would not deny King Olaf anything 
if they were to meet. But when King Olaf's friends heard of 
such speeches, they dissuaded him from any such expedition. 
It is related that the king one day early in the spring was walk- 
ing in the street, and met a man in the market with many, and 
for that early season, remarkably large angelica roots. The 
king took a great stalk of the angelica in his hand, and went 
home to Queen Thyri's lodging. Thyri sat in her room weeping 
as the king came in. The king said, ' See here, queen, is a 
great angelica stalk, which I give thee.'' She threw it away, and 
said, ' A greater present Harold Gormson gave to my mother ; 
and he was not afraid to go out of the land and take his own. 
That was shown when he came to Norway, and laid waste 
the greater part of the land and seized all the scatt and reve- 
nues ; and thou darest not go across the Danish dominions for 
this brother of mine King Swend.' As she spoke thus, King 
Olaf sprang up, and answered with a loud oath, ' Never did I 
fear thy brother King Swend, and if we meet he shall give way 
before me ! ' 

" The king made ready in all haste to leave the country with 
his army, which was both great and made up of fine men. When 
he left the land and sailed southwards, he had sixty ships of 



Pages 103-107] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 203 

war, with which he sailed past Denmark, and in through the 
Sound, and on to Venland. He appointed a meeting with King 
Burislaf ; and when the kings met, they spoke about the prop- 
erty which King Olaf demanded, and the conference went off 
peaceably, as a good account was given of the properties which 
King Olaf thought himself entitled to there. He passed here 
much of the summer, and found many of his old friends." 

988. Drottning Thyri. Queen Thyri. 

1003. Angelicas. Angelica is a fragrant aromatic plant found 
in damp places in Europe. 

1023. King Harold Gormson. See note on 1. 937 under Blue- 
Tooth Harold. 

1028. scatt. Tribute money. 

1031. Vendland. The southern shores of the Baltic. To 
reach it by water from Norway a vessel must pass through a 
strait known as " The Sound." 

XVII. KING SVEND OF THE FORKED BEARD 

"The Danish king, Swend Forked Beard, was married to 
Sigrid the Haughty. Sigrid was King Olaf's greatest enemy ; 
the cause of which, as before said, was that King Olaf had 
broken off with her and had struck her in the face. She urged 
King Swend much to give battle to King Olaf ; saying that he 
had reason enough, as Olaf had married his sister Thyri without 
his leave, ' and that your predecessors would not have submitted 
to.' Such persuasions Sigrid had often in her mouth ; and at 
last she brought it so far that Swend resolved firmly on doing 
so. Early in spring King Swend sent messengers eastward into 
Sweden, to his brother-in-law Olaf, the Swedish king, and to 



204 NOTES [Pages 107-111 

Earl Eric ; and informed them that King Olaf of Norway was 
levying men for an expedition, and intended in summer to go 
to Vendland. To this news the Danish king added an invita- 
tion to the Swedish king and Earl Eric to meet King Swend 
with an army, so that altogether they might make an attack on 
King Olaf. The Swedish king and Earl Eric were ready enough 
for this, and immediately assembled a great fleet and an army 
through all Sweden, with which they sailed southwards to Den- 
mark, and arrived there before King Olaf had sailed to the 
eastward. The Swedish king and Earl Eric sailed to meet the 
Danish king, and they had all when together an immense force." 

1084. Isle of Svald. No such island now exists. It is 
thought to have disappeared in the fourteenth century, when 
great changes took place in the Baltic region. 

1101. frontlet. Frowning brow. 

1125. Lapland. An extensive territory in the northern part 
of Europe between Norway and the White Sea. Finmark. 
The northernmost province of Norway. 

1130. Earl Sigvald. A brother-in-law of King Olaf's wife 
Geira and an earl of King Svend of Denmark. 

1145. Stet-haven. A bay in the northern part of Germany, 
into which the Oder River flows and upon whose southern 
shore is the city of Stettin. 

XVIII. KING OLAF AND EARL SIGVALD 

"At the same time that King Swend sent a message to Swe- 
den for an army, he sent Earl Sigvald to Vendland to spy out 
King Olaf's proceedings, and to bring it about by cunning 
devices that King Swend and King Olaf should fall in with 



Page 111] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 205 

each other. So Sigvald sets out to go to Vendland. First, he 
came to Jomsburg, and then he sought out King Olaf. There 
was much friendship in their conversation, and the earl got 
himself in great favor with the king. At last Earl Sigvald got 
a secret message from Denmark that the Swedish king's army 
was arrived from the east, and that Earl Eric's also was ready ; 
and that all these chiefs had resolved to sail eastwards to Vend- 
land, and wait for King Olaf at an island which is called Svald. 
They also desired the earl to contrive matters so that they 
should meet King Olaf there. 

"Then came first a flying report to Vendland that the Danish 
king, Swend, had fitted out an army ; and it was soon whis- 
pered that he intended to attack King Olaf. But Earl Sigvald 
says to King Olaf, ' It never can be King Swend's intention to 
venture with the Danish force alone, to give battle to thee with 
such a powerful army ; but if thou hast any suspicion that evil 
is afoot, I will follow thee with my force, and I will give thee 
eleven manned ships.' The king accepted this offer; and as 
the light breeze of wind that came was favorable, he ordered 
the ships to get under weigh, and the war-horns to sound the 
departure. The sails were hoisted ; and all the small vessels, 
sailing fastest, got out to sea before the others. The earl, who 
sailed nearest to the king's ship, called to those on board to tell 
the king to sail in his keel-track : ' For I know where the water 
is deepest between the islands, and in the sounds, and these 
large ships require the deepest.' Then the earl sailed first with 
his eleven ships, and the king followed with his large ships, also 
eleven in number ; but the whole of the rest of the fleet sailed 
out to sea. Now when Earl Sigvald came sailing close under 
the island Svald, a skiff rowed out to inform the earl that the 



206 NOTES [Pages 111-113 

Danish king's army was lying in the harbor before them. Then 
the earl ordered the sails of his vessels to be struck, and they 
rowed in under the island. It is said that King Olaf and Earl 
Sigvald had seventy sail of vessels and one more, when they 
sailed from the south," 

XIX. KING OLAF'S WAR-HORNS 

" When the king sailed in towards the isle, the whole enemies' 
fleet came rowing within them out to the Sound. When Olaf 's 
ship commanders saw this they begged the king to hold on his 
way, and not risk battle with so great a force. The king re- 
plied, high on the quarterdeck whfere he stood, ' Strike the sails, 
never shall men of mine think of flight. I never fled from 
battle. Let God dispose of my life, but flight I shall never 
take.' It was done as the king commanded. 

"King Olaf ordered the war-horns to sound for all his ships 
to close up to each other. The king's ship lay in the middle of 
the line, and on one side lay the Little Serpent, and on the 
other the Crane ; and as they made fast the stems together, the 
Long SerpenVs stem and the 8hort SerpenVs were made fast 
together ; but when the king saw it he called out to his men, 
and ordered them to lay the larger ship more in advance, so 
that its stern should not lie so far behind in the fleet. 

"Then says Ulf the Red, *If the Long Serpent is to lie as 
much more ahead of the other ships as she is longer than them, 
we shall have hard work of it here on the forecastle.' 

" The king replies, ' I did not think I had a forecastle man 
afraid as well as red.' 

' ' Says Ulf, ' Defend thou the quarterdeck as I shall the fore- 
castle.' 



Page 113] THE MUSICIAN'S TALE 207 

" The king had a bow in his hands, and laid an arrow on the 
string, and aimed it at Ulf. 

" Ulf said, ' Shoot another way, king, where it is more need- 
ful : my work is thy gain.' 

" King Olaf stood on the SerpenVs quarterdeck, high over the 
others. He had a gilt shield, and a helmet inlaid with gold ; 
over his armor he had a short red coat, and was easy to be dis- 
tinguished from other men. When King Olaf saw that the 
scattered forces of the enemy gathered themselves together 
under the banners of their ships, he asked, ' Who is the chief of 
the force right opposite to us ? ' 

" He was told it was King Swend with the Danish army. 

" The king replies, ' We are not afraid of these soft Danes, 
for there is no bravery in them ; but who are the troops on the 
right of the Danes ? ' 

" He was answered that it was King Olaf with the Swedish 
forces. 

" ' Better it were,' said King Olaf, ' for these Swedes to be sit- 
ting at home killing their sacrifices, than to be venturing under 
our weapons from the Lotig Serpent. But who owns the large 
ships on the larboard side of the Danes ? ' 

" ' That is Earl Eric Hakonson,' say they. 

"The king replied, 'He, methinks, has good reason for 
meeting us ; and we may expect the sharpest conflict with these 
men, for they are Norsemen like ourselves.' 

" The kings now laid out their oars, and prepared to attack. 
King Swend laid his ship against the Long Serpent. Outside 
of him Olaf the Swede laid himself, and set his ship's stem 
against the outermost ship of King Olaf 's line ; and on the other 
side lay Earl Eric. Then a hard combat began." 



208 NOTES [Pages 113-116 

1197. brume. Mist, fog. 

1200. Regnarock. The time of the destruction of the uni- 
verse. The word is commonly written Kagnarok. 

XX. EINAR TAMBERSKELVER 

" Einar Tambarskelver, one of the sharpest of bow-shooters, 
stood by the mast, and shot with his bow. Einar shot an arrow 
at Eric, whicli hit the tiller-end just above the earl's head so 
hard that it entered the wood up to the arrow-shaft. The earl 
looked that way, and asked if they knew who had shot ; and at 
the same moment another arrow flew between his hand and his 
side, and into the stuffing of tlie chief's stool, so that the barb 
stood far out on the other side. Then said the earl to a man 
called Fin, — but some say he was of Finn (Laplander) race, 
and was a superior archer, — ' Shoot that tall man by the mast.' 
Fin shot ; and the arrow hit the middle of Einar's bow just at 
the moment that Einar was drawing it, and the bow was split 
in two parts. 

*" What is that,' cried King Olaf, 'that broke with such a 
noise ? ' 

" ' Norway, king, from thy hands,' cried Einar. 

" ' No ! not quite so much as that,' says the king ; 'take my 
bow, and shoot,' flinging the bow to him. 

" Einar took the bow, and drew it over the head of the 
arrow. ' Too weak, too weak,' said he, ' for the bow of a mighty 
king ! ' and throwing the bow aside, he took sword and shield, 
and fought valiantly." 

1266. Eyvind Skaldaspiller. A Scandinavian poet of whom 
but little is known. His chief work is the poem, Haleygratal, 
which deals with Hakon the Great. 



Pages 117-118] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 209 

1297. assay. Trial, attempt (obsolete). 
1302. Kamper. Battle, fight. 

1310-1311. Like St. Michael overthrowing, etc. See Mil- 
ton's Paradise Lost, Bk. VI, 11. 320-343. 

XXI. KING OLAF'S DEATH -DRINK 

" Now the fight became hot indeed, and many men fell on 
board the Serpent ; and the men on board of her began to be 
thinned off, and the defence to be weaker. The earl resolved 
to board the Serpent again, and again he met with a warm 
reception. When the forecastle men of the Serpe^it saw what 
he was doing, they went aft and made a desperate fight ; but 
so many men of the Serpent had fallen, that the ship's sides 
were in many places quite bare of defenders ; and the earl's 
men poured in all around into the vessel, and all the men who 
were still able to defend the ship crowded aft to the king, and 
arrayed themselves for his defence. 

" Kolbiorn the marshal, who had on clothes and arms like 
the king's, and was a remarkably stout and handsome man, 
went up to the king on the quarterdeck. The battle was still 
going on fiercely even in the forehold. But as many of the 
earl's men had now got into the Serpent as could find room, and 
his ships lay all around her, and few were the people left in 
the Serpent for defence against so great a force ; and in a short 
time most of the SerpenVs men fell, brave and stout though they 
were. King Olaf and Kolbiorn the marshal both sprang over- 
board, each on his own side of the ship ; but the earl's men had 
laid out boats around the Serpent, and killed those who leaped 
overboard. Now when the king had sprung overboard, they 



210 NOTES [Pages 118-121 

tried to seize him with their hands, and bring him to Earl Eric ; 
but King Olaf threw his shield over his head, and sank beneath 
the waters. Kolbiorn held his shield behind him to protect him- 
self from the spears cast at him from the ships which lay round 
the Serpent^ and he fell so upon his shield that it came under 
him, so that he could not sink so quickly. He was thus taken 
and brought into a boat, and they supposed he was the king. 
He was brought before the earl ; and when the earl saw it was 
Kolbiorn, and not the king, he gave him life. 

"Earl Sigvald, as before related, came from Vendland in 
company with King Olaf with ten ships ; but the eleventh ship 
was manned with the men of Astrid, the king's daughter, the 
wife of Earl Sigvald. Now when King Olaf sprang overboard, 
the whole army raised a shout of victory ; and then Earl Sigvald 
and his men put their oars in the water and rowed towards the 
battle. But the Vendland cutter, in which Astrid's men were, 
rowed back to Vendland ; and the report went immediately 
abroad, and was told by many, that King Olaf had cast off his 
coat of mail under water, and had swam, diving under the long 
ships, until he came to the Vendland cutter, and that Astrid's 
men had conveyed him to Vendland. But however this may 
have been. King Olaf Tryggvesson never came back again to 
his kingdom of Norway." 

1314. assuaged. Appeased. 

1343. forests of Orkadale. The forests along the Orka River, 
a small stream in the central part of Norway. 

1370. sea-kale. Sea cabbage. 



Pages 121-127] THE MUSICIAN^ S TALE 211 



XXII. THE NUN OF NIDAROS 

As stated before, this part is original with the poet (see 
introductory note to the saga). What do you think was 
Longfellow's purpose in adding it to the story told by Snorro 
Sturleson ? 

INTERLUDE 

26. Calvin. A celebrated Protestant theologian and reformer 
(1509-1564). He set forth a system of religious doctrines, in- 
cluding predestination, total depravity, particular redemption, 
etc., which has exerted a wide influence among the Protestant 
churches. 

27. Athanasian creeds. St. Athanasius (297-373), a distin- 
guished theologian known as the " Father of Orthodoxy," was 
the first great defender of the doctrine of ' ' the essential divinity 
of Christ as coequal in substance with the Father." The doc- 
trine is included in the creeds of the Roman, Greek, and English 
churches. 

28. holy water, books, and beads. Symbols of the Catholic 
church. 

34, litanies. Series of supplications for mercy and deliver- 
ance used in public worship. 

35. yonder Pharisee. The Jew. The Pharisees were an 
ancient Jewish sect or school advocating a strict observance 
of the law, both canonical and traditional. The term is now 
sometimes used to include all Jews. 

40-47. Not to one church alone, but seven, etc. See Bevela- 
tion ii, iii. 
48-49. Ahl to how many Faith has been, etc. "Now faith 



212 NOTES [Pages 127-129 

is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not 
seen. " Hebrews xi. 1. 

51. creed of the Phantasiasts. The Phantasiasts, a religious 
sect that rose in the second century, believed that Christ did not 
have a physical body, such as an ordinary human being pos- 
sesses, but that his was ethereal, or, at least, immaterial. This led 
them to maintain that he acted and suffered only in appearance. 

61. Old Fuller's saying. Thomas Fuller, an English minister 
of the seventeenth century, vyhose sayings are still extant. 

THE THEOLOGIAN'S TALE 
TORQUEMADA 

This poem is based on a legend found in De Castro's Espaniola 
Protestantes, a work treating of the persecution of Spanish Prot- 
estants during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Torque- 
mada, as head of the inquisition, was the chief persecutor. In 
sixteen years he put between nine and ten thousand persons to 
death by burning at the stake. The following story is told as 
an illustration of the influence of his fanatical zeal. 

"To such an extremity did the ferocity of some Catholics 
extend in the destruction of Lutherans that in 1581 a gentleman 
from Valladolid denounced to the Holy Office his two daughters 
as professing the reformed religion. Wishing to convert them 
to Catholicism, he contrived, — owing to the great confidence 
the inquisitor had in his passion, — to have them removed from 
the prison of the inquisition to his home. There, with the aid 
of some priests and friars, he tried to turn away their minds 
from what he believed to be false doctrine ; but they were firm 
in the Protestant faith, and his efforts were fruitless. 



Page 129] THE THEOLOGIAN^ S TALE 213 

"Burning with rage to see that his entreaties, as well as his 
threats and persecutions, were in vain, he took them back to 
the inquisition and told the judges that they still defended the 
reformed faith with the greatest obstinacy. Finally, on their 
father's solicitation, these wretched girls were sentenced to be 
burned. This proud old man, indignant that his blood should 
be contaminated by Lutheran principles, and overpowered by a 
fanatical monomania, went to a forest on his own estate to 
gather branches with which to feed the flames which were to 
consume his own children. He returned with these spoils from 
the woods to Valladolid and gave them to the inquisition. The 
judges praised his magnanimity, and set him up as an example 
to be imitated by all, rich and poor, who wished to spread and 
serve that faith which they thought they were protecting by the 
flames. 

" But he was not satisfied with having cut the wood ; spurred 
on by the applause of his friends, both lay and spiritual, and 
aiming to spread greater terror through Valladolid, he even 
begged to be the slayer of his own flesh and blood. After hav- 
ing thrown his own daughters into the dreadful cells of the 
inquisition, and brought his own wood with which to make the 
burning pile, he asked the inquisitors' permission to kindle with 
his own hand the flames which were to consume them. The 
inquisitors, who saw in this barbarous wretch a model of slaves, 
received his request most graciously, and in order to exalt 
their faith, proclaimed with cymbals and trumpets not only 
his inhuman request, but also their permission to carry it 
out. The unhappy girls were therefore burned at Valladolid 
in 1581." 

1. Ferdinand. Ferdinand V (1452-1516), surnamed "The 



214 NOTES [Pages 129-135 

Catholic"; king of Castile and founder of the Spanish mon- 
archy. 

2. Isabella. Isabella I (1451-1504), also surnamed "The 
Catholic " ; wife of Ferdinand and queen of Castile. 

5. Valladolid. Capital city of Valladolid province in the 
northwestern part of Spain. 

6. Moated. Surrounded by trenches filled with water. 

8. Hidalgo. A Spanish nobleman of the lowest rank, taci- 
turn. Reserved. 

22. Ephesus. An ancient city in the western part of Asia 
Minor, which contained, among other famous buildings, an im- 
mense amphitheatre in which gladiatorial combats were fought, 
the gladiators fighting at times with each other and at other 
times with wild animals. See 1 Corinthians xv. 32. 

23. Lent. A fast of forty days, beginning with Ash-Wednes- 
day and continuing until Easter, observed by many churches as 
commemorative of the fast of Jesus. 

25. Corpus Christi (body of Christ). A festival of the Roman 
Catholic church,, kept on the Thursday following Trinity Sun- 
day in honor of the eucharist. It is celebrated with great cere- 
mony, many persons taking part. 

26. Palm Sunday. The Sunday before Easter ; so called in 
commemoration of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, 
when the people strewed palm branches in the way. See 
John xii. 13. 

125. the mystic horn. Torquemeda kept a reputed unicorn's 
horn with him for protection against poison. 

129-133. when Abraham of old, etc. See Genesis xxii. 

157-160. Now all the leaves had fallen, etc. Note how the 
poet makes nature agree with the mood of the story. 



Pages 135-141] THE POET'S TALE 215 

160. ravens. Birds of ill-omen. 

" The raven himself is hoarse 
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan 
Under my battlements." 

— Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, 8c. 5. 



INTERLUDE 

21. The Italian Tales that you disdain. See 11. 7-19, Inter- 
lude following The Student's Tale. 

22. Straparole. Straparole, or Straparola, an Italian novel- 
ist of the sixteenth century ; best known by a collection of 
stories commonly called Straparola' s Nights. The stories are 
told on separate nights by a party of ladies and gentlemen 
gathered at Venice. 

23. Machiavelli's Belphagor. A humorous tale told by 
Machiavelli (1469-1527), an eminent statesman and author, 
in which Belphagor, an arch-fiend, meets with some diverting 
experiences while on earth. 

THE POET'S TALE 

THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 

As suggested earlier in the text, the plot of this story was 
original with the poet (see p. xvii, Introduction). The tale is 
a happy conclusion to the series. The blithe beauty of the 
style, the light, humorous character portrayal, the joyful singing 
of the birds, whose cause has been vindicated, make it one of 
the most attractive of Longfellow's poems, a fitting close for the 
serious, and at times, dark tales that come before. The scene 



216 NOTES [Pages 142-143 

of the story is laid at Killingworth, a village in the southern 
part of Connecticut. 

2. merle. Blackbird, mavis. Throstle or song-thrush. 

3. His hand. The hand of God. 

4. Saxon Caedmon. An Anglo-Saxon poet of the seventh 
century. He wrote metrical paraphrases of many parts of the 
Bible, giving much attention to the books of Genesis^ Exodus^ 
and Daniel. 

11-12. The sparrows chirped, etc. " Yea, the sparroto hath 
found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she 
may lay her young, even thine altars, Lord of hosts, my 
King and my God." Psalms Ixxxiv. 3. Also see Matthew x. 
31, and Luke xii. 7. 

15. Knowing who hears the ravens cry. " He giveth to the 
beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." Psalms 
cxlvii. 9. Also see Job xxxviii. 41. 

17. Sound. Long Island Sound. Killingworth is about ten 
miles from its northern shore. See introductory note. 

25. jocund. Merry, cheerful. 

'* Night's caudles are burnt out and jocund day 
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops." 

— Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Sc. 5. 

30. Cassandra. A Greek prophetess, daughter of Priam, 
king of Troy. She predicted the overthrow of the Trojans and 
the destruction of their city, prognosticating. Prophesying, 
foretelling. 

35-37. Of these marauders, etc. The birds, instead of de- 
manding a ransom in money, as marauders ordinarily do, took 
•what they wished from the gardens and corn-fields. 



Pages 143-147] THE POET'S TALE 217 

42. fluted columns. Columns ornamented by a series of 
grooves or furrows. 

43. The Squire came forth, etc. Beginning with the Squire, 
note the poet's amusing characterization of the different persons 
introduced. 

52. Edwards on the Will. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), 
an eminent American theologian and metaphysician who gave 
much attention to literature. His most celebrated work is an 
Essay on the Freedom of the Will^ a treatise discussing and 
condemning the popular notions of the day on that subject. 

67. bombazine. A fine twilled fabric with silk warp and 
worsted filling. 

88-90. Plato, anticipating the Reviewers, etc. Plato (429- 
347 B.C.), a famous Greek philosopher, author of many philo- 
sophical works, chief among which is the Bepublic, which has 
to do with an ideal, state or community, advocated a strict cen- 
sorship over poets. In this way, according to 1. 88, he antici- 
pated the reviewers or critics of modern times, who by their 
unjust criticisms have driven many authors to abandon litera- 
ture. 

93. Troubadours. A class of lyric poets that flourished in 
southern France and northern Italy from the eleventh to the 
fourteenth centuries. They sang chiefly of love and valor. Here, 
of course, the birds are referred to. 

96. as David did for Saul. A reference to the time when 
Saul, king of Israel, being afflicted by an evil spirit, was healed 
by David's harp. See I Samuel xvi. 14-23. Also read 
Browning's Saul. 

124. madrigals. Simple little songs. 

140. hurdy-gurdies. Stringed instruments, lutelike in shape, 



218 NOTES [Pages 147-151 

whose strings are vibrated by resined wheels turned by cranks 
and shortened at will by keys operated by the fingers. Here 
used in a figurative sense. 

142. roundelay. A simple, rural song which is short and 
lively. 

143. field-fares. Thrushes. 

179. fusillade. Simultaneous discharge of fire-arms. 

184. St. Bartholomew. On St. Bartholomew's Day, 1572, a 
massacre of Huguenots occurred at Paris, France, between 
twenty and thirty thousand being slain. Since then the name 
has been applied to any indiscriminate slaughter. 

193. Devoured by worms, like Herod. "And immediately 
the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the 
glory : and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." 
Acts xii. 23. 

229. canticles. Little songs. 



INDEX TO NOTES 



Abate, 171. 

adumbration, 171. 

seolean harp, 168. 

Ah ! to how many Faith, etc., 
211. 

Ahcent, 156. 

A Little Bird in the Air, 201. 

Altafiord, 194. 

An Angel is flying overhead, 
178. 

And a hurried flight, etc., 183. 

And ladies ride, etc., 154. 

And the sea through all its tide- 
ways, 196. 

an exaltation, 179. 

Angelicas, 203. 

Angelus, 180. 

Angvaldsness, 188. 

an iron pot, 161. 

Antonius Stradivarius, 158. 

Ariosto, 162. 

Arno, 168. 

Aroundight, 161. 

as David did for Saul, 217. 

assay, 209. 

assuaged, 210. 

Athanasian creeds, 211. 

auroral, 169, 



bedight, 154. 

bergamot, 169. 

Berserks, 198. 

Bishop Sigurd at Salten Fiordf 

194. 
bodkin, 193. 
bombazine, 217. 
brume, 208. 
Bucolic songs, 156. 

cairn, 193. 

Calvin, 211. 

canticles, 218. 

Cassandra, 216. 

Celebes, 157. 

Charlemagne, 155. 

Charlestown shore, 160. 

chevron argent, 154. 

Chrysostome, 193. 

Colada, 161. 

Corpus Christi, 214. 

crazy doors, 153. 

creed of the Phantasiasts, 212. 

Cremona's workshop, 158. 

dais, 179. 

Dead rides Sir Morton, etc., 189. 

Decameron, 156. 



219 



220 



INDEX TO NOTES 



Deposmt potentes, etc., 178. 
Devoured by worms, like 

Herod, 218. 
Drottning Thyri, 203. 
Durindale, 161. 

Earl Sigvald, 204. 

Edwards on the Will, 217. 

effulgence, 179. 

Elivagar's river, 158. 

ells, 200. 

emprise, 162. 

Enceladus, the giant, 179. 

Ephesus, 214. 

escutcheon, 161. 

Excalibar, 161. 

Eyvind Skaldaspiller, 208. 

fanfares, 169. 

Ferdinand, 213. 

field-fares, 218. 

Fiesole's green hills, etc., 156. 

Florence, 168. 

Florence, Pisa, Rome, 154. 

Flores and Blanchefleur, 155. 

fluted columns, 217. 

Foot-breadth of Thoralf the 
Strong, 198. 

forests of Orkadale, 210. 

For music in some neighbor- 
ing street, 157. 

from these reservoirs, etc., 170. 

frontlet, 204. 

fusillade, 218. 

Galilean, 181. 
garden-close, 169. 



garmented in white, 164. 
garrulous, 201. 
gleeds, 153. 
Godoe Isles, 194. 
grenadiers, 160. 
Gudruin, 192. 
gules, 154. 

Hakon, 182. 

hauberk, 154. 

Havamal, 189. 

Heimskringla, 180. 

henchmen, 179. 

Hidalgo, 214. 

His hand, 216. 

His long-lost Eden, etc., 169. 

Hobgoblin Hall, 153. 

Hodden-gray, 192. 

holy water, books and beads, 

211. 
Holy Week, 179. 
housings, 179. 
hurdy-gurdies, 217. 
Hus-Ting, 192. 
Hymer the Giant, 192. 

Immortal Four, 156. 
impalpable, 171. 
importunate, 169. 
imprecations, 178. 
Interlude, 161, 170, 180, 211, 

215. 
Iron Beard, 190. 
Isabella, 214. 
Isle of Svald, 204. 

Jarls and Thanes, 194. 



INDEX TO NOTES 



221 



jesses, 169. 

Jew, 170. 

jocund, 216. 

John's Apocalypse, 197. 

Jove, 181. 

Joyeuse, 161. 

Kabala, 157. 

Hamper, 209. 

keel to carling, 200. 

King Bomba's happy reign, 

155. 
King Harold Gormson, 203. 
King Olaf and Earl Sigvald, 

204. 
King Olaf's Christmas, 197. 
King Olaf's Death-Drink, 209. 
King Olaf's Return, 181. 
King Olaf's War-Horns, 206. 
King Robert of Sicily, 171. 
King Svend of the Forked 

Beard, 203. 
Knowing who hears the ravens 

cry, 216. 

Lapland, 204. 

Launcelot, 155. 

Lent, 214. 

Levant, 156. 

Like St. Michael overthrowing, 

etc., 209. 
litanies, 211. 
lure, 169. 

Machiavelli's Belphagor, 215. 
Madrigals, 217. 
Magnificat, 178. 



Magnified by the purple mist, 

155. 
Major MoUneaux, 154. 
malecontent, 193. 
mavis, 216. 
Meh, 156. 
menials, 179, 
mere, 192. 
merle, 216. 

Merlin, 155. ^^-4- 

Middlesex, 160. 
Moated, 214. 
Moluccas, 157. 
Monna Giovanna, 168. 
Moor of Venice, 170. 
Mort d'Arthure, 155. 

Nidarholm, 185. 

Norroway, 180. 

North Church, 160. 

Not to one church alone, etc., 

211. 
Now all the leaves, etc., 214. 

Of Brynhilda's love, etc., 186. 
Of old Sir William and Sir 

Hugh, 154. 
Of these marauders, etc., 216. 
Old Fuller's sayings, 212. 
Old King Gorm, 201. 
orgies, 200. 

Palermo's fatal siege, 158. 
Palermo's walls, 179. 
Palmieri's garden, etc., 162. 
Palm Sunday, 214. 
palpitating, 168. ^ 



222 



INDEX TO NOTES 



Patriarch, 156. 
Paul Revere's Ride, 158. 
piebald, 179. 

Plato, anticipating the Re- 
viewers, etc., 217. 
Pope Urbane, 178. 
Prelude, 153. 
preternatural, 169. 
pursuivant, 169. 
Purveyor, 168. 

Queen Gunhild's wrath and 

wrack, 183. 
Queen Sigrid the Haughty, 185. 
Queen Thyri and the Angelica 

Stalks, 202. 
Quern-biter of Hakon the 

Good, 198. 

Rand the Strong, 194. 
ravens, 215. 
Regnarock, 208. 
Robert of Sicily, 178. 
roundelay, 218. 
runes, 180. 

sackbut, 157. 

sacred ilex, 168. 

Saga, 180. 

St. Bartholomew, 218. 

St. John's eve, 178. 

St. Peter's Square, 179. 

Salerno, 179. 

Salten Fiord, 194. 

Saturnian reign, 179. 

Saxon Caedmon, 216. 

scatt, 203. 



sea-kale, 210. 
Seditions, 178. 
seneschal, 179. 
shovel hat, 194. 
Signor, 169. 
Sir Eglamour, 155. 
Sir Ferumbras, 155. 
Sir Guy, 155. 
Skerry, 188. 
Smalson Horn, 183. 
Sound, 216. 
stalls, 178. 
Stet-haven, 204. 
Straparole, 215. 
Stromkarl, 158. 
sumptuous tome, 154. 
sylvan deities, 168. 

Talmud, 157, 170. 

Targum, 157. 

terraced gardens, 168. 

The Angel with the violin, 
157. 

the bells and scalloped cape, 
179. 

The Birds of KUlingworth, 
215. 

the bridge in Concord town, 
160. 

The Building of the Long Ser- 
pent, 198. 

The Challenge of Thor, 181. 

The Crew of the Long Serpent, 
200. 

the Euphrates watering Para- 
dise, 169. 

the Fables of Pilpay, 157. 



INDEX TO NOTES 



223 



The Falcon of Ser Federigo, 

162. 
The Italian tales that you 

disdain, 215. 
The jovial- rhymes, etc., 154. 
The Landlord's Tale, 158. 
The laurels of Miltiades, 157. 
The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi, 

170. 
the mists that roll, etc., 169. 
The Musician's Tale, 180. 
the mystic horn, 214. 
The Nun of Nidaros, 211. 
The Parables of Sandabar, 

157. 
The Poet's Tale, 215. 
The Red Horse prances, etc., 

153. 
The Saga of King Olaf, 180. 
The scroll reads, etc., 154. 
The Sicilian's Tale, 170. 
The Skerry of Shrieks, 187. 
The Spanish Jew's Tale, 170. 
The sparrows chirped, etc., 

216. 
The Squire came forth, etc., 

217. 
The story-telling bard of prose, 

156. 
The Student's Tale, 162. 
The Theologian's Tale, 212. 
The velvet scabbard, etc., 179. 
The Wayside Inn, 153. 



The Wraith of Odin, 188. 
Theocritus, 156. 
Thor, 181. 

Thora of Rimol, 183. 
thy counsellor, 179. 
Tinkled his bells, 168. 
Torquemada, 212. 
Troubadours, 217. 
Tuscan tales, 156. 
Tyrolian forests, 156. 

Val d' Arno, 168. 
Valladolid, 214. 
Valmond, 178. 
Vendland, 203. 
Viking, 194. 

wandering Saga-man or Scald, 

180. 
warlocks, 188. 
Was-hael, 198. 
wassail-bowl, 193. 
weald, 201. 
when Abraham of old, etc., 

214. 
When men lived in a grander 

way, 153. 
Witch of Endor, 188. 
Wyvern part-per-pale, 154. 

yonder Pharisee, 211. 
Yriar, 192. 
Yule-tide, 197. 



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Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome and Other Poems. Edited by 

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Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 
Keary's Heroes of Asgard. Edited by Charles A. McMurry, 
Hawthorne's Grandfather's Chair. Edited by Charles A. McMurry. ' 
Longfellow's Courtship of Miles Standish. Edited by Homer P. Lewis. 
Grimm's Fairy Tales. Selected and edited by James H. Fassett. 
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 
Out of the Northland. Stories from the Northern Myths. By Emilie 

Kip Baker. 
Scott's The Talisman. Edited by Frederick Trendly. 
Scott's Quentin Durward. Edited by Arthur L. Eno. 
flomer's Iliad (abridged) . Done into English by Andrew Lang, Wal- 
ter Leaf, and Ernest Myers. 
flomer's Odyssey (abridged). Done into English by S, H. Butcher 

and Andrew Lang. 
Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Illustrated.) Edited bj 

Charles A. McMurry. 
Dickens's A Christmas Carol ^nd the Cricket on the Hearth. Edited by 

James M. Sawin. 
Hawthorne's Wonder-Book. Edited by L. E. Wqlfe. 
Carlyle's Heroes and Hero Worship. 
Church's The Story of the Iliad. 
Church's The Story of the Odyssey. 

Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables. Edited v Clyde tVRST 
Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum and other Poems. Edited by Justus 

Collins Castleman. 
Andersen's Danish Fairy Legends and Tales. (Translated.) Edited 

by Sarah C. Brooks. 
f^ongfellow's Hiawatha. Edited by Elizabeth J. Fleming. 
Lamb's The Essays of Elia. Edited by Helen J. Robins. 
Blackmore's Lorna Doone. Edited by Albert L. Barbour. 
Goldsmith's The Deserted Village and other Poems. Edited by Robert 

N. Whiteford, Ph.D. 
Shakespeare's Henry V. Edited by Ralph Hartt Bowles. 
Pope's The Rape of the Lock and other Poems. Edited by Elizabeth 

M. King. 

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